Largest trailer suction hopper dredger

In 2008, Belgian maritime construction firm Jan De Nul launched the Cristobal Colon ocean dredging vessel. It is the world’s largest trailer suction hopper dredger (a record since matched, but not broken, by its sister ship, Leiv Eriksson, launched in 2009). Dredging is the process of clearing material from the ocean floor. Trailer suction hopper dredgers do this by trailing large pipes behind the ship which act like giant vacuum cleaners, sucking material from the bottom into an onboard hopper – which is then emptied at a designated disposal site. Cristobal Colon measures 223 metres long, 41 metres wide and has a draught of 15.15 metres. It can carry 78,000 tons of material, dredged from depths of 155 metres below the surface.