The upgrade of the dredging control system onboard the HAM 311 and 312

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The control dredging system onboard two of Van Oord’s trailing suction hopper dredgers that have been and in one case still is very active in Dubai, the ‘HAM 311’ and ‘HAM 312’, have underwent a major upgrade recently.
As part of this upgrade, that was a joint project of Van Oord and IHC Systems, several items of the system were renewed.

First of all the old ‘IC2X’ SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) system, that has become more or less obsolete, has been replaced by the modern ‘Cimplicity’ SCADA system.
Secondly the visualisation of the system on the dredging desk of the dredgers has been completely renewed and now follows the same lay-out as other tshd’s within Van Oord’s fleet.

Also, to ensure an optimal communication between the different parts of the dredging control system including the new ‘SCADA Cimplicity’, the PLC software has been partly rewritten.
Finally, the upgrade was also used to integrate some modifications that have been made to the dredging installation of the vessels like a new jet water valve and a second overflow, into the system.
The upgrade, that was completed by the end of 2004, resulted in a much more user friendly system, an easier controllable dredging process, more uniformity and it also allows for a much quicker trouble shooting process, through advance and dedicated dredging control diagnostics integrated within the new SCADA system.