The Salt Dredger
The dredger’s construction was and remains a unique and extraordinary project. Since the Dead Sea is not connected to any other body of water, it was necessary to build the dredger on land in an empty pond. The building and assembly process took approximately one year, for which parts specially designed and manufactured were imported for the project. The dredger is approximately 150 meters long and 100 meters wide. Upon conclusion of the building phase, the pond was filled with water to cause the dredger to float until it would be capable of sailing into the Dead Sea. The Salt Dredger is a unique boat that is capable of floating on very shallow water and additionally has “legs” by which it can move through areas of extremely shallow water. The dredger operates via sonar to scan the pond floor for salt.
Work on the Salt Harvest project began in October 2022 and, at the end of its first year, harvested 8 million m3 of salt, a considerable amount far beyond the set target. This project is the first of its kind in Israel. Before the dredger’s operation, salt harvesting occurred successfully only in smaller boats or devices, and the harvests were very small.