On 24 January 2012 Dutch shipbuilder Damen Shipyards delivered three Cutter Suction Dredgers of its CSD 500 series to the Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) in Azerbaijan. After delivery, President Ilham Aliyev and Minister of Emergency Situations Kamaladdin Heydarov examined the dredgers at the premises of the Yacht Club in Baku. Damen representatives briefed the President and his party on the functions and features of the CSD 500 and on the expanding production programme of the Damen Shipyards Group.

Kura River

MES ordered the three Damen dredgers to avoid repetition of the events that occurred as result of the Kura River bursting its banks in previous years. The CSDs will be used to clean-up, deepen and maintain the Kura River water system. The three vessels come from a successful and long-standing series of cutter suction dredgers designed according to the Damen principles of standardization and continuous research & development.

CSD 500

The dredgers can work up to a maximum dredging depth of 14m and are able to pump 4.000 m3/h of water/soil mixture per hour. They are outfitted with a large number of options to enhance dredging efficiency, safety and comfortable working conditions for the vessel’s crew. Amongst them are day and night accommodations, anchor booms and spud carriage pontoons. A full communication package, dredge pump performance monitoring instrumentation and a position visualisation Navguard system are installed in the spacious operating cabin. In addition, Damen will supply basic spare parts and training for the crew and dredge masters.

Due to Damen’s philosophy of series production and delivery from stock it was possible to build, outfit, deliver and commission all three dredgers within six months after the contract became effective. The three dredgers will shortly be moved to Nefchala, where the crew will be trained. Afterwards the dredgers will commence their work at three different locations on the Kura River: Nefchala, Salayan and Sabirabad.