Dredge Pumps, Split Fore and Aft: China's First Distributed-Pump Hopper Dredger Delivered
The 27,929 m³ trailing suction hopper dredger Xin Hai Jing 1 has been delivered at Qidong — China's first of its class with two in-hold dredge pumps split between fore and aft pump rooms instead of the conventional centralised layout.
Lead
China's first trailing suction hopper dredger with a distributed in-hold pump arrangement — the Xin Hai Jing 1 — was delivered to CCCC Shanghai Dredging at Shanghai Zhenhua's Qidong offshore base on 23 October 2026, Xinhua's Shanghai channel reported.
Facts
The vessel. Built by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) for CCCC Shanghai Dredging, designed by the Marine Design and Research Institute of China, with the national dredging engineering research centre as turnkey contractor: 180 m overall, 36 m beam, maximum hopper capacity 27,929 m³, maximum dredging depth 120 m. (Source: Xinhua's Shanghai channel, 2026-10-25; Workers' Daily.)
The pumps. The vessel breaks from the centralised pump-room layout of conventional hopper dredgers: two in-hold dredge pumps sit in separate fore and aft pump rooms. The stated rationale is hydraulic — managing pipeline resistance and centre-of-gravity balance on an extreme-duty hull — with the added effect that a single compartment failure no longer stops the whole operation. Parallel underwater pumps and series combinations with the in-hold pumps give staged dredging depths from 16 to 115 m. (Source: Xinhua's Shanghai channel.)
The supply chain. The reports describe end-to-end domestic sourcing, with more than 110 Chinese suppliers contributing — including a 120-metre deep-water drag arm and a universal draghead for both deep and shallow water. The owner's deputy general manager is quoted describing full-chain domestic production as the programme's most prominent outcome. (Sources: Xinhua's Shanghai channel; Workers' Daily.)
Where this connects on this site
- Where a dredge pump sits against the centrifugal/positive-displacement divide — a high-wear centrifugal duty: Centrifugal vs Positive Displacement Pumps: What the 500 cP Line Really Means
- Reading a severe-duty selection in the right order: Chemical Pump Selection Guide: Risk, Medium and Duty Point — in That Order
- The selector: chempumpselect.com
Sources
| # | Basis |
|---|---|
| 1 | The delivery on 2026-10-23 at Qidong; the vessel's dimensions, hopper capacity and dredging depth; the distributed fore/aft pump-room arrangement and its hydraulic rationale; the staged 16–115 m depth capability; the 110-plus domestic suppliers; the owner's quoted remarks — 新华网上海频道, 2026-10-25 — http://sh.news.cn/20261025/614732c5af8c4909b7174a2c2a7300a4/c.html ｜ 工人日报客户端（中工网）, 2026-10-24 — https://www.workercn.cn/c/2026-10-24/8924474.shtml |
Note on sourcing. This item reports state-media coverage of a vessel delivery. We record the verifiable layer — the delivery, the arrangement and the published figures. Performance claims are reported as stated, and we do not rank or recommend suppliers.
What the source does not state
The reports do not state the dredge pumps' maker, models, flow rates or drive power, the vessel's contract value, or its first assignment.
Update note
This item is a dated record of a publicly reported delivery. We append corrections rather than rewrite history; corrections are marked Correction with the date.