The dredger Zheng He fills the interior of the Baleares Wharf at a good pace

The fill consists of 600,000 m³ of material dredged from the seabed in the Cantàbria Dock

The work is going faster than expected and dredging is expected to be completed this week

The dredger Zheng He is carrying out its task of filling the interior of the Port of Tarragona’s new Balears Wharf at a faster rate than expected and it is estimated that it will complete the work by the end of this week. The vessel is dredging the seabed of the dock between the Cantàbria, Galícia and Andalusia wharfs. A total movement of 600,000 m³ is planned, which will also serve to increase the draught of the aforementioned docks.

A few weeks ago the Port of Tarragona installed the pipe through which the dredged material is pumped to the Balears Wharf. The conduit was laid underwater to allow vessels to continue passing through the entrance to the port without modifying their operations.

At the same time, pipes have also been installed to allow the water and any wildlife in the interior of the Balears Wharf to escape. This will avoid fish currently inside the enclosure formed by the caissons, the two breakwaters and the Levante seawall from becoming trapped. As the inside of the wharf is filled with 600,000 m³ of dredged material, the water level will rise and the pipes will be completely covered, forming a natural channel.

A dredger returning to its beginnings

The dredger Zheng He was built in 2010 in Croatia and was first used in the construction of the Chemicals Wharf. Eleven years later the vessel designed for seabed dredging has returned to Tarragona to carry out a similar task as part of the construction of the new Balears Wharf.

It is operated by Jan De Nul, a family-owned company based in Luxembourg, and provides construction and maintenance services for maritime infrastructure worldwide. Its main activity is dredging, which accounts for 85% of its turnover.

Technically the Zheng He has a maximum draught of 5.5 metres, a length of 138.5 metres and a width of 26 metres. It has a 90-centimetre suction pipe and a cutting power of 7,000 kw and can dredge at depths of up to 35 metres.