Dredging contracts for Boskalis in Germany
Royal Boskalis acquired three dredging contracts for coastal protection and port maintenance activities in Germany. The contracts have a combined value of 45 million euro. The dredging activities will all start in the coming months.
Coastal defence
One contract was awarded by the German Waterways and Shipping Office WSA Weser-Jade-Nordsee to upgrade the existing coastal defense on the island of Wangerooge. This project involves the reinforcement of the groins and revetment for which 200,000 tons of rock will be used. In addition to a backhoe dredger a number of split barges will be deployed.
Construction works will commence in November 2020 and are expected to be completed late 2021.
Shipping fairway
Furthermore, Boskalis received a second contract from WSA Weser-Jade-Nordsee for maintaining a 90-kilometer-long section of the shipping fairway of the Weser river between Nordenham and Bremerhaven.
Under a two-year maintenance contract Boskalis will dredge a total quantity of around 14 million cubic meters of sand and silt, which will be deposited at designated locations along the river. Boskalis will deploy a medium-sized trailing suction hopper dredger to carry out the dredging work that will start early 2021 and last until the end of 2022.
Port maintenance
The third contract that Boskalis secured was awarded by Niedersachsen Ports for the maintenance of the port of Emden. Starting 1 November 2020, Boskalis will maintain the port at the required depth by dredging an annual volume of around 2.7 million cubic meters of sand and silt with a trailing suction hopper dredger for two consecutive years.
Different dredging activities
The three German contracts have different aims. The project on the island of Wangerooge is aimed at combatting the consequences of extreme weather related to climate change. The activities in the Weser river and the port of Emden are largely driven by the need to maintain the accessibility of ports to accommodate global seaborne trade.
