The Largest Fall Pipe Rock Dumping Vessel

water depths of 2,000 m and size of 400 mm.

The Opportunity

Rock dumping vessels are watercrafts that are used to transport and dump rocks

on the seabed. Ranging from large, bulk-carrier style vessels able to carry out

precision operations using fall pipes, to smaller deck-loading vessels used for

erosion remediation, these vessels provide protection to previously laid pipelines.

Fitted with a dynamic positioning system, rock dumping vessels are able to

accurately position rocks on the seabed.

The Joseph Plateau fall pipe rock dumping vessel, together with its sister vessel,

Simon Stevin, is the largest of its kind in the world. With a rock carrying capacity of

31,500 tons, it is one of the few vessels equipped for rock dumping in water depths of 2,000 meters.

In addition to its large operational depth, the vessel''s feeding system to fall pipe can handle a rock size of 400 mm – more than any other fall pipe vessel.

This is particularly important for shallow water pipeline sections and scour protection alongside offshore platforms where the stability of the rock is defined by seabed currents.

The Solution

Dresser-Rand installed its 380 kW Guascor F180TA-SG emergency diesel generator in this vessel. The generator operates in two modes: black out mode and harbor mode.

In case of a blackout, this gen-set starts up automatically and provides energy to cover the basic services and energy demand of the vessel (air compressors, lighting, etc.).

Apart from covering the basic electrical emergency demand, the gen-set provides energy for harbor services as well (air conditioning, etc.).