Posted on March 10, 2025
This morning, Saturday 8 March, Royal IHC successfully launched the Electric Mining Cutter Suction Dredger (CSD) SANDRA. This launch took place at Royal IHC’s shipyard in Kinderdijk, The Netherlands.
This launch had a special touch as the shipyard was open to the public. Royal IHC’s own employees, their family and friends, and many people from the region attended the ceremony on Saturday morning.
The CSD SANDRA is the second electric mining dredger that we’ve built for our client Kenmare Resources Plc. The sister vessel, CALEN, was launched in January. Both vessels are customised mining dredgers, measuring 62 metres and weighing close to 1,000 tons. They each have a total installed power of 6,800 kVA and a cutter power of 1,350 kW.
The two new dredgers will work at Kenmare’s Moma Titanium Minerals Mine in Mozambique. Both vessels will form part of the upgrade of Kenmare’s largest plant, Wet Concentrator Plant A, which is being undertaken in advance of the plant’s relocation to the large Nataka ore zone. Mining Nataka will secure production from Moma for decades to come.
In the coming period, the vessels will be outfitted further and commissioned at the quay in Kinderdijk. In April an official name giving ceremony will be held with representatives from Kenmare and IHC Mining.
