The Cristóbal Colón, one of the world’s largest dredgers, has departed the Maldives after being chartered at a high cost by the Maldives Airports Company Limited (MACL) for land reclamation projects.
To facilitate its reclamation efforts, MACL had leased two massive vessels from the Belgian company Jan De Nul: the Cristóbal Colón and its sister ship, the Leiv Eiriksson.
Since its arrival, the Cristóbal Colón had been primarily engaged in the Rasmale' reclamation project. The other dredger, the Leiv Eiriksson, was initially deployed for land reclamation in Haa Alif Dhidhdhoo. Upon completing that project, it also joined the operations at the Rasmale' site.
Information obtained by Adhadhu indicates that these dredgers ceased operations late last week. Since then, Adhadhu has been monitoring the vessels' locations using maritime tracking services, including MarineTraffic and VesselFinder.
Initial tracking showed both dredgers anchored outside the Fushidhiggaru lagoon. Neither vessel moved from their positions until the Cristóbal Colón departed the Maldives yesterday. The Leiv Eiriksson remains at its original anchored location.
The departure of these vessels comes before the completion of the Rasmale' sites assigned to MACL. Of the three sites tasked to the company, only Site A has been fully reclaimed. The dredgers were anchored shortly after work had commenced on Site B.
Satellite imagery of the Fushidhiggaru lagoon suggests that reclamation work at Site B has been stalled for approximately two weeks.
The sites assigned to MACL for reclamation are:
- Site A: 138 hectares
- Site B: 154 hectares
- Site H: 12 hectares
- Site I: 18 hectares
When contacted to clarify the reasons for the departure of the chartered dredgers, a MACL media official stated they would provide an answer after looking into the matter. However, no official comment has been received yet.
Currently, the only MACL-chartered dredger actively engaged in reclamation work is the Filippo Brunelleschi, which is operating in Thaa Atoll.
