Purpose-designed for a new waterway in northern Poland, the 63m trailing suction hopper dredger Ursa was launched last month by Finnish shipbuilder Tyovene.

Among the smallest ‘trailers’ worldwide, with a load capacity of 950m³, the vessel will be used to maintain a 5m depth in the Nowy Swiat Ship Canal, otherwise known as the Vistula Spit Canal, and in the fairway across the Vistula Lagoon to the port of Elblag. While customised for shallow-water duties on the new shipping connection between the lagoon and the Bay of Gdansk, and in the River Elblag, the Ursa is also equipped with the means of ensuring fairway depths up to 18m in the approaches to the seaports of Gdansk and Gdynia.