Project record

CVM Congo River Easydredge 2700XL fleet renewal

CVM and Royal IHC representatives signing the Easydredge 2700XL contract at a table with organizational flags and project documents

Royal IHC

La Congolaise des Voies Maritimes has signed for a customised Royal IHC Easydredge 2700XL with an approximately 3,300 m³ hopper, Vietnam build and first-year operating support. The order follows an owner-reported 30-day FATSHI campaign that opened a new pass and stabilised an offered draft at 26 feet in 2023, and a government transfer of MANZANILLO 2 in 2020. Those earlier fleet and campaign records establish the operating problem, not the new vessel's delivery or future Boma-Matadi access result.

Project signal

Delivery in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Manage the record in three separate ledgers: vessel delivery, operator readiness, and river performance. The 10 March 2026 contract closes only the order gate. The 2020 MANZANILLO 2 handover and CVM's 2023 FATSHI campaign are fleet and operating-history evidence; neither proves that the new 2700XL is under construction, delivered, accepted, deployed, or improving access to Boma and Matadi.

Current status Easydredge 2700XL building contract signed; no yard, trial, delivery, acceptance, or Congo River deployment milestone published Source confidence Confirmed

Location

Democratic Republic of the Congo / Africa

Segment

Dredging

Status

Easydredge 2700XL building contract signed; no yard, trial, delivery, acceptance, or Congo River deployment milestone published / Confirmed

Evidence reviewed

16 July 2026

Controlled taxonomy

Related sectors

The detailed segment above is the primary work classification. These broader sector links connect the project to related delivery and market research.

Knowledge context

Related knowledge topics

Continue through the topic collections to compare this record with related projects, evidence guides, briefs, articles, reports, and performance records.

Project anatomy

Scope, counterparties, and execution logic

Client / authority
La Congolaise des Voies Maritimes (CVM)
Delivery parties
Royal IHC as designer, integrator, service provider, crewing and training provider, Nam Trieu Shipbuilding Industry Corporation as planned partner yard in Vietnam, No named equipment suppliers or subcontractors in the reviewed contract record
Contract route
Direct building and service contract between CVM and Royal IHC, with construction planned at Royal IHC's Nam Trieu partner yard in Vietnam and Royal IHC retaining design, integration, first-year maintenance support, experienced crewing and training roles. Contract value, financing, payment milestones, securities, class, flag, final equipment suppliers, contractual delivery date and performance guarantees are not disclosed.
Execution window
Royal IHC announced the signed building contract on 10 March 2026. The release states Vietnam construction and first-year support but publishes no design-release, steel-cutting, keel-laying, launch, harbour-trial, sea-trial, dredging-trial, delivery, acceptance, crew-certification or Congo River deployment date.
Works package
Design and construction of one customised Easydredge 2700XL TSHD with an approximately 3,300 m³ hopper, greater autonomy, upgraded bow thruster and propulsion power, expanded accommodation, advanced automation and a first-year support package covering planned-maintenance software, technical assistance, experienced crewing and operational training. Royal IHC's standard Easydredge 2700 reference range lists 2,500-3,000 m³ hopper capacity, 5.5-metre maximum draught, 25-metre maximum dredging depth and a 700-millimetre suction tube; those figures are class context and are not assigned to the customised 2700XL unless its final technical particulars confirm them.
Marine interfaces
CVM's public mission covers hydrography, bathymetry, dredging, marking and pilotage on the maritime reach of the Congo River. The new vessel is intended for maintenance dredging and land reclamation supporting Boma and Matadi access. Its assigned reaches, pre-dredge surveys, annual quantities, material envelope, loading and discharge routes, placement sites, maintained dimensions, navigation windows and acceptance criteria are not published.
Commercial read
The prime vessel and first-year support contract is committed, creating addressable design, shipbuilding, dredging-system, automation, propulsion, spares, planned-maintenance, technical-support, crewing and training work. The missing value, supplier split and delivery programme limit package-level commercial visibility. More importantly, the asset only becomes river capacity after accepted trials, trained crews, a funded maintenance programme, hydrographic control, disposal permissions and repeat production evidence.
Next milestone
Confirm final technical particulars, class and flag, construction start and yard milestones, launch, harbour and sea trials, dredging trials, delivery and owner acceptance, crew and maintenance readiness, first Congo River deployment, reach-level work notices, pre- and post-dredge hydrography, quantities, placement routes, declared draft and accepted Boma-Matadi navigation outcomes.

Material change register

What changed, when, and what it proves

Only source-bound events that alter phase, scope, counterparties, delivery, completion, commissioning, or acceptance are listed. A change can advance the record without proving the next gate.

CVM and Royal IHC signed the customised 2700XL building contract

The contract commits an approximately 3,300 m³ TSHD, Vietnam build and first-year support for Congo River maintenance and land-reclamation duties. Construction start, final specifications, delivery, acceptance, deployment and navigation improvement all require later records.

Read controlling source

CVM reported a 30-day FATSHI campaign and 26-foot offered draft

CVM states that the separate existing TSHD opened a new pass and stabilised the offered draft at 26 feet for Banana, Boma and Matadi connectivity. This is owner-reported campaign history, not a current survey, independent acceptance or performance evidence for the new 2700XL.

Read controlling source

The DRC government handed MANZANILLO 2 to CVM

The government record establishes an earlier fleet-renewal and financing step intended to restore stable navigation drafts on the maritime reach. It is historical capacity context and is not combined with the 2026 Royal IHC contract or treated as current channel performance.

Read controlling source

Delivery watch

Evidence needed next

Confirm final technical particulars, class and flag, construction start and yard milestones, launch, harbour and sea trials, dredging trials, delivery and owner acceptance, crew and maintenance readiness, first Congo River deployment, reach-level work notices, pre- and post-dredge hydrography, quantities, placement routes, declared draft and accepted Boma-Matadi navigation outcomes.

Decision watchpoints

  • Final technical particulars, class, flag, financing and supplier packages
  • Design release, steel cutting, keel laying, launch and Nam Trieu yard progress
  • Harbour, sea and dredging trials with disclosed acceptance criteria
  • Delivery, owner acceptance, crew certification and maintenance readiness
  • First funded Congo River campaign assigned to the new vessel
  • Reach-level surveys, quantities, soils, discharge and placement routes
  • Declared and independently supported navigation outcomes for Boma and Matadi

Related records 3

Project availability status

This public project page is a tracked market record rather than a tender notice, contractual commitment, or commercial instruction. Use the status, confidence label, evidence-review date, and source note together when judging how much weight to place on the signal.

Read featured analysis Review methodology Submit stronger evidence or a correction Open project tracker

Record control

Evidence reviewed date is not a project-event date.

IMWO changes phase, participants, scope, completion, or acceptance wording only when a dated source establishes the change. The review date records when the evidence set was checked; it does not claim that physical work changed on that date.

Evidence reviewed 16 July 2026 Sources in this record 7

Source record

Royal IHC's 10 March 2026 webpage and four-page release control the current order: one customised approximately 3,300 m³ Easydredge 2700XL, Nam Trieu build, first-year support and a Boma-Matadi navigability purpose. The generic Easydredge page provides standard 2700-class reference dimensions only; its 2,500-3,000 m³ range, 5.5-metre draught, 25-metre dredging depth and 700-millimetre suction tube are not final CVM-vessel specifications. CVM defines its statutory operating mission and reports that a separate 30-day FATSHI campaign opened a new pass and stabilised an offered draft at 26 feet in December 2023. The DRC Prime Minister's office separately records the 2 December 2020 MANZANILLO 2 handover and its financing context. These historical records do not establish the new vessel's construction, delivery, deployment or current river condition, and CVM's campaign result remains an owner/operator statement rather than independent hydrographic acceptance.

Phase: delivery. Evidence reviewed: 16 July 2026.

Project sources 7