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Queen of the Netherlands (ship)
Encyclopedia
The Queen of the Netherlands is a Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
trailing suction hopper
Hopper barge
Hopper barge is a kind of non-mechanical ship or vessel that cannot move around by itself, unlike some other types of barges. Designed to carry materials, like rocks, sand, soil and rubbish, for dumping into the ocean, a river or lake for land reclamation....
dredging ship constructed in 1998. The vessel has been used in high-profile salvage and dredging operations including the investigation into the Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland...
crash and in the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project
Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project
The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project began on 8 February 2008 to deepen the shipping channels leading to Melbourne, Australia, in Port Phillip to draught allow greater access for container ships. An estimated A$969 million, was to be spent on the works, with $150 million funded by taxpayers...
. It has been called "the world's largest floating vacuum cleaner".
The ship's draghead is 6 metres (19.7 ft) wide and can dredge between 55 metres (180.4 ft) and 160 metres (524.9 ft) deep. The ship has three hopper
Hopper barge
Hopper barge is a kind of non-mechanical ship or vessel that cannot move around by itself, unlike some other types of barges. Designed to carry materials, like rocks, sand, soil and rubbish, for dumping into the ocean, a river or lake for land reclamation....
discharge options. The ship's hopper
Hopper barge
Hopper barge is a kind of non-mechanical ship or vessel that cannot move around by itself, unlike some other types of barges. Designed to carry materials, like rocks, sand, soil and rubbish, for dumping into the ocean, a river or lake for land reclamation....
is among the largest in the world. The ship has equipment to dredge almost any material; the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project
Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project
The Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project began on 8 February 2008 to deepen the shipping channels leading to Melbourne, Australia, in Port Phillip to draught allow greater access for container ships. An estimated A$969 million, was to be spent on the works, with $150 million funded by taxpayers...
will likely see it remove 23000000 cubic metres (812,237,322.9 cu ft) of clay, silt, sand and limestone from the bottom of Port Philip Bay. During the Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111
Swissair Flight 111 was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas MD-11 on a scheduled airline flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City, United States to Cointrin International Airport in Geneva, Switzerland...
salvage operation, a mixture of sea water, silt and aircraft pieces was pumped out of the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
. The ship assisted in the recovery of nearly 98% of the aircraft, with over 144698 kilograms (319,004.5 lb) of aircraft and cargo pieces salvaged.