Industrial equipment maker Atlas Copco has shared pictures of its underwater pneumatic drill being used to break up rocks under Malta’s Grand Harbour.
The plan is to lay 800m-long cables under the harbour floor to bring electricity to docked cruise and cargo ships.
That will let them switch off their heavy-fuel generators and plug in to shoreside electricity while berthed.
Malta is spending €49.9m on its Grand Harbour Clean Air Project, which it says will cut more than 90% of cruise liners’ emissions of polluting nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, and particulate matter. It will also cut nearly 40% of liners’ carbon dioxide emissions.
Atlas Copco says its LH 390 handheld hydraulic breaker weighs 33kg and delivers 125 bar of pressure.
It can withstand corrosive seawater thanks to its coating of anti-corrosion and anti-rust paint.
Turkish underwater contractor Pina Dalgıçlık İnşaat San and Trade (PDIST) is conducting the work to prepare the ground for the cables.
