The construction of the new APM Terminals’ Maasvlakte II has been awarded to a Dutch consortium of GMB, Dura Vermeer and Imtech.

The order, worth about 100 million euro, covers the laying of surfacing, cables, pipes, craneways and rail connections.

Total investments for the terminal are estimated at around half a billion Euros.

Completed April 2014
Work will begin this week and should be completed in April 2014, with the terminal being operational at the end of 2014.

The 180 hectare terminal will boast an initial annual capacity of 2.7 million TEU, with the option of being increased to 4.5 million TEU.

Deepsea quay
APM Terminals’ Maasvalkte II will boast 2,800 meters of deepsea quay, 1,000 meters of which will be completed in the first phase. A 500 meter long quay for inland vessels and feeders will also be built, with a depth in excess of 10 meters. The quay wall will have a depth of 20 meters.

The terminal will be able to welcome the latest generation of container ships. Maersk, the biggest container shipping line in the world and sister of APMT, will put the first of twenty ships with a capacity of 18,000 TEU into operation next year.

APMT already has a terminal on the existing Maasvlakte and will continue to use this alongside the new one.

In addition to APMT, the Port of Rotterdam Authority has granted a container terminal on the Second Maasvlakte to the consortium of DP World and four large container shipping companies, under the name Rotterdam World Gateway.

The news release was originally published on the website of Port of Rotterdam (in Dutch only).

More information
Projectorganisatie Maasvlakte 2
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 10 252 10 10
www.maasvlakte2.com

APM Terminals
Maasvlakte, the Netherlands
+31 181 372 222
www.apmterminals.com

Construction of the hard sea wall that is to protect the north side of Maasvlakte 2, proceeds steadily. The ‘wet’ activities underwater were completed in November. In the meantime the specially constructed land-based crane, the Blockbuster, continues to work briskly on the block dam (black line on photo above) that will reach the mainland in mid-February. The coastal expansion project by the Rotterdam harbor is right on schedule.

Large scale dredging completed
PUMA – the joint venture involving Boskalis and Van Oord – started the Maasvlakte 2 project for the Rotterdam Port Authority in 2008. The first phase of the project encompasses 700 hectares of new land for the port.

In 2011 the large-scale spraying of sand from the sea was finished and the first 500 metres of deepsea quay were delivered. The new dunes were finished, roads and viaducts were constructed and work was done on the infrastructure for utilities.

The Blockbuster crane is buidling the hard sea and is now reaching the main land.

In the second phase PUMA will build the quays, roads, railways and bicycle paths. The harbor basins will be deepened to 20 meters below NAP (Normal Amsterdam Level) so that even the largest container vessels can moor there.

Final closure from the sea
In April 2012 PUMA will deliver the hard sea wall which is part of a 11 kilometers long new coastal defense structure.

In July 2012 the gap in the sprayed sand dam will be closed, and at the start of 2013 the connection between the Yangtze harbour and the new port basins will be cut through.

Well over halfway
After three years of construction and less than two years until the first ship berths at the quay, the construction of Maasvlakte 2 is well over halfway. While 2011 was mainly concerned with distances and volumes, 2012 is the year in which everything comes together.

Construction of container terminals
The seawall will be closed and the infrastructure connected so that access for shipping can be opened via the Yangtze harbour. Both customers – RWG and APM Terminals – will be building their terminals in 2012 for occupation in 2014.

Maasvlakte 2 is the largest hydraulic engineering project in the Netherlands since the Delta Project and the construction of the present Maasvlakte.

More information
Project organization Maasvlakte 2
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 (0)10 252 10 10
info@maasvlakte2.com
www.maasvlakte.com/en