Towing of Dredgers: Logistics of Oversized Technical Fleet Objects

Transporting such objects is always a challenge. Dredgers have a high center of gravity, immense windage (wind load), and their hulls are often dotted with protruding structural parts (cutters, ladder pipes, pipelines).

Over the years, we have carried out unique towing projects. Here are the most remarkable ones:

Islander. Baltic Sea – St. Petersburg – Belomorsk – Bukhta Sever – St. Petersburg (2025)

Towing of a pontoon dredger with spud piles. The first stage involved taking over the object in neutral waters of the Baltic Sea and transferring it to St. Petersburg (574 km). The second stage was mobilization to the settlement of Bukhta Sever (total distance 3,431 km, of which 2,557 km were sea routes and 874 km were inland waterways). On the St. Petersburg – Keretsky roadstead section, the towing was performed by the tug Vityaz, after which the object was handed over to the tug Silver Lowenna for delivery to the port of destination. Upon arrival, Silver Lowenna provided positioning and re-mooring of the non-self-propelled dredger in the work area. The return mobilization was carried out by the same tug. The departure from Bukhta Sever occurred at the onset of ice formation, so we arranged backup with the tug Navarin.

Pechora. Astrakhan – Rostov-on-Don – Astrakhan, 2023–2024

The first task was to deliver a 56-meter-long dredger from Astrakhan to Rostov-on-Don. The towing immediately presented a surprise: the hull was not designed for pushing due to protruding elements that could damage both the tug Geroy Igor Aseev and the dredger itself. With the help of our partner – the repair and technical base of JCS “Kranservice” – the object was upgraded by adding an auxiliary structure to the hull, making it possible to take the dredger in tow by pushing. The second stage was the return to Astrakhan, but this time the dredger was fitted with a heavy cutter. Conditions became more challenging, and we brought in an additional tug Geroy Aleksandr Samofalov for reliable holding and control. Both transits were completed without any issues, despite the object’s complex geometry.

Bekas. Yalova (Turkey) – neutral waters of the Black Sea, 2023

This route was part of a larger international logistics chain. We performed a sea towage of a self-propelled three-legged dredger with a draft of up to 7 meters along its ladder pipes.

Borey. Vytegra – Torovo, 2023

We towed the 72-meter-long dredger Borey through the Volga–Baltic Waterway. The towage across Lake Onega to the Vytegra buoy was performed by the lead tug Geroy Ivan Sivko, accompanied by the auxiliary vessel Leonid Belyaev. The total length of the tow without the towline was 140.07 m. The client provided the parameters but forgot to account for the protruding cutter, so the auxiliary tug did not fit into the lock chambers, and we had to pass through using double locking.

Sukhona. Kronstadt – Dudinka, 2022

On the Kronstadt – Belomorsk leg, a double towing arrangement was used, with the tug Vityaz as the lead tug and Musson pushing from astern. From Belomorsk to Dudinka, the towing was carried out by a single tug, Vityaz. The complexity of the project was associated with strong winds and heavy seas in the White Sea and the Northern Sea Route. Additional difficulties arose from the specific hull design of the Sukhona and its heavy handling characteristics.

Vesalius. Bautino (Kazakhstan) – Baku (Azerbaijan), 2021

Towing of a seagoing dredger 96 meters long (that is the length of a football field!). We ensured holding and maneuverability during the transit across the Caspian Sea, taking into account the object’s dimensions.

We are grateful to all partners involved in these projects for their trust and collaboration.

To discuss cooperation details, write to us at: chartering@mwshipco.com