Bangladesh’s network of waterways, which serve an important role in linking parts of the country together, shrinks from 5,968 km (3,708 miles) to about 3,865 km (2,401 miles) of navigable water during the country’s dry period. To keep the thriving economy on its toes, the country needs to keep the important sources of navigation and transportation in full capacity. In a bid to keep the silt and sedimentation out of the river, the country needs hundreds of dredges and for this, all dredges had to be imported considering that there existed no dredger manufacturers in the country. The government encouraged the foreign companies to tie up with the local companies to manufacture and service the dredgers inside Bangladesh. This led to one such association between the American DSC Dredge and the Deep Diggers, Bangladesh who joined hands to commercially produce and supply dredges to buyers in Bangladesh after signing an MoU in 2019.
The dredge components from DSC including the Caterpillar diesel engine, dredge pump, gearbox, cutter assembly, winches, hydraulic system and lever room and controls were imported into Bangladesh from the US collaborator DSC. All steel fabrication including the hull, side pontoons, ladder and spuds were built by Deep Diggers at their facility in Chattogram, Bangladesh. Deep Diggers installed all the DSC supplied components including the complete hydraulic and electrical systems.
The Shark dredge unit is powered by a single Caterpillar C32 ACERT diesel engine, rated 1125 hp, and features 17-meter (55-foot) digging depth capability. The modern DSC design of a single-engine and advanced hydraulic system provides maximum fuel efficiency and long component life. Older designs require two engines for peak performance, one for the dredge pump and one for the hydraulic system. With fuel being the highest single cost of operating a dredge, the fuel savings realized by the elimination of one engine are significant. The DSC hydraulic system design provides the same peak level of performance with just one engine.
The Deep Diggers Director, Mr Omar Sharif was confident and assured that the association with premier dredge manufacturer from the USA, DSC Dredge have enabled them potentially to build and service all the DSC dredges in Bangladesh and expected to receive more dredger orders from the state for the ambitious inland waterways and channels deepening project. On the other hand, DSC Dredge President and CEO, Bob Wetta were ecstatic that despite the setbacks of COVID19 in 2020, the Deep Diggers manufacturing team did manage to execute the project without delays and handover the dredgers.
