PD Ports has confirmed its commitment to the economic success and environmental sustainability of the River Tees with a £23m investment in a new, state of the art dredging vessel.
The 71m long dredger – the Emerald Duchess arrived in Teesport in 2024. The new vessel has been ‘future-proofed’ with a number of bespoke design features that will eventually accommodate carbon neutral solutions. Fitted with an innovative intelligent power management system, the Emerald Duchess can swap between power from a batter pack equivalent to 10 Tesla cars and fuel made from hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO).
The inclusion of hatches above the engine room will allow power units to be swapped out for modern fuel cells as the technology matures, using methanol and ethanol fuel. Furthermore, through extensive modelling using computation fluid dynamics, the hull has been refined to minimise fuel consumption while moving through the water. Investment in Emerald Duchess, which will be able to carry 2,500 tonnes and hold up to 2000 cubic metres of dredged material, is another step in PD Port’s commitment to be Carbon Neutral by 2027.