September/October – DR/INT

By Marsha Cohen

PORTS OF STOCKHOLM AWARDS BOSKALIS A QUAY WALL CONTRACT AT NORVIK PORT SWEDEN 
Stockholm Norvik Port a new freight port for rolling goods and containers is being constructed in Norvikudden located 60 kilometer (37 miles) south of Stockholm Sweden on the Baltic Sea. The port will have seven berths for container ships and RoRo ferries. Part of the construction involves a new quay wall. As announced in mid-July Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has been awarded a contract by Ports of Stockholm to construct the 1100-meter (3609-foot) quay wall. The contract value amounts to approximately 60 million euros ($70.8 million). The project will begin in the autumn of 2017 and is planned to be completed in the spring of 2020 when the new port is scheduled to open. The new Stockholm Norvik Port has a natural depth that varies between 16.5 and 10.5 meters and the port area will cover 44 hectares. Part of the quay wall will be constructed by installing heavy precast concrete elements produced by Boskalis with the assistance of a large crane. 
Construction and dredging works for the new port started in August 2016. Since the area where the port is being built is one of rocky hills the Ports of Stockholm began operations by blasting almost one million cubic meters (1.3 million cubic yards) of rock to level the ground for the future port area. Blasting work will also be carried out to build the railway which will connect the hinterland to the port intermittently over a two-year period. Blasted-out rock has been crushed to be reused in the project. Other work included reinforcing a large area of clay by injecting a mixture of lime and cement into the clay. The ground was then overlaid with crushed rock and gravel so that the area will not subside when roads and buildings are built upon it.
The quay wall contract is not the first one Boskalis was awarded at the project. From September 2016 through March 2017 Boskalis also executed land reclamation activities for the new port in which a million cubic meters (1.3 million cubic yards) was dredged using a large variety of dredging equipment. During this the sea bed was leveled and clay silt and mud were removed.

Volvox Delta is one of two Van Oord trailing suction hopper dredges working at the
Port of Kandla.

VAN OORD WINS THREE-YEAR MAINTENANCE CONTRACT AT KANDLA PORT TRUST INDIA 
Early in July 2017 Van Oord dredging and marine contractors headquartered in Rotterdam announced that Kandla Port Trust (KPT) in India had awarded the company a contract to maintain the depth of the approach channel to the Port of Kandla for the next three years. The approach channel is a crucial gateway to Kandla which is one of western India’s major ports. According to the port statistics the channel is between 11 and 15 feet wide deep. Dredging operations began almost immediately. 
The Port of Kandla located on the northwestern coast of India and its channel connects to the Arabian Sea opposite Oman. As well the port has good connections with the Indian hinterland. Ensuring the depth of the channel and thus accessibility to the port will facilitate economic growth both locally and internationally. 
Two trailing suction hopper dredges Volvox Delta and Volvox Asia have been deployed to maintain the channel and berth approaches. The Volvox Delta is a hopper dredge that was built in 1984 with an overall length of 117 meters a width of 22 meters and a 5.9 meter draft (384 feet x 72 feet 19 foot draft). Its gross tonnage is 8089 tons. The Volvox Asia is a somewhat larger hopper dredge built a bit later in 1999 with a length of 134 meters and width of 26 meters (440 feet x 85 feet). The dredge’s gross tonnage is 12030 tons. Van Oord has planned its dredging activities to avoid interfering as much as possible with this busy maritime transport route. Dredged material will be deposited in a designated area at sea.
Volvox Delta is one of two Van Oord trailing suction hopper dredges working at the Port of Kandla. 

VAN OORD WINS CONTRACT FOR DUBAI WATERFRONT PROJECT
In January 2017 construction of a major new waterfront development in Dubai was announced and at the end of July the contract for Dubai Harbor marine works was awarded to Van Oord. The 20-million-square foot Dubai Harbour project will be developed by Meraas Holding and will feature the Middle East’s largest marina capable of handling 1400 vessels as well as a 135-meter-high tower (442 feet) Dubai Lighthouse that will house a luxury hotel and an observation deck. It also features a 150000 square foot cruise liner terminal capable of handling 6000 passengers as well as entertainment and retail space a yacht club shopping mall hotels and residences. The 1400-berth marina will increase Dubai’s capacity for handling yachts by almost 50 percent from the current 3000 berths in the Emirate. The marina will also be able to handle larger yachts up to 85 meters in length.
Prior to 2001 the Emirate was practically solely dependent on oil production. In that year however the vision of a diversified economy was put forth by the head of Dubai’s government and the decision was made to expand into the tourism industry.
 Execution of the marine works will begin in September 2017 with completion scheduled for May 2019. Van Oord’s work will include dredging the 12-kilometer (7.5 miles) navigation channel reclaiming land and executing vibro compaction. To achieve this the contractor will deploy a large trailing suction hopper dredge and one of its high-tech self-propelled cutter suction dredges. 
This newest project which Van Oord carries out for Projects Link Contracting Co. LLC is the next step in achieving “Dubai Tourism Vision 2020” Dubai’s strategy to attract 20 million visitors per year by 2020. Van Oord has contributed to this strategy since 2001 by building amongst others Palm Jumeirah The World and many other artificial islands. 

DUTCH DREDGING ORDERS HOPPER DREDGE AND PLOUGH BOAT
Baggerbedrijf de Boer-Dutch Dredging a dredging company based in Sliedrecht the Netherlands has recently ordered two new vessels – a hopper dredge Lesse and a plough boat Peter.  The design of both the Lesse and the Peter have evolved from vessels ordered previously. According to management the designs of these vessels were further optimized in collaboration with the entire fleet personnel. This gave rise to new concepts: for example the plough boat Peter is a further development of the Kees Jr. which was delivered in 2014. The new multifunctional plough boat measures 22.3 meters (72 feet) by 7 meters (23 feet) with a draft of 2.8 meters (9 feet). Among other technologies the boat is equipped with a multibeam echosounder so that the seabed can be charted entirely in three dimensions. These readings form the basis not just for an analysis of the work to be performed but also substantiate to the clients that the work has been properly carried out. The Peter is scheduled to be commissioned in May 2018 and will replace two older plough boats both of which will be decommissioned this year. Dutch Dredging’s plough boat fleet will then include five boats of which the Kees Jr. is currently deployed in Hamburg Germany.
The new 2300 cubic meter (3008 cubic yards) hopper dredge Lesse is based on two other Dutch Dredging ships the Albatros which was delivered in 2013 and the Mahury delivered in 2015. The new vessel has a shallow draught and will be equipped with an IHC Plumigator overflow to minimize turbidity during operations. The vessel will be deployed worldwide as are its two predecessors which have now been assigned in long-term contracts. Delivery of the Lesse is planned for March 2019. All these ships have been developed and built in collaboration with Royal IHC shipbuilders and Hoekman Shipbuilding headquartered in Urk the Netherlands.

SAUDI ARAMCO AWARDS MAJOR CONTRACT FOR MARITIME INDUSTRIES AND SERVICES COMPLEX
In early August 2017 Saudi Aramco announced that it had signed a contract with a consortium comprising Saudi Archirodon Company Ltd. and Huta Hegerfeld AG Saudia Company for dredging reclamation and marine structures for the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services in Ras Al-Khair Saudi Arabia. Ras Al-Khair is a port and town being developed on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia 60 km north of Jubail. 
The contract is the first major undertaking for the maritime complex. The contractors will conduct dredging and reclamation of approximately 37 million cubic meters (48.4 million cubic yards) of fill in addition to ground improvement over an area of 7.4 million square meters (8.85 million square yards). The contract also provides for constructing 4500 linear meters (14763 feet of concrete quay walls and wharves in addition to 12000 linear meters (39370 feet) of rock revetments and breakwaters to protect the integrity of the complex.
The initial phase of the contract will be completed by 2020 and forms the basis for the whole program as it will prepare land for the subsequent construction of a dry dock and ship building and maintenance facilities. The Complex was inaugurated in November 2016 and is a commercial maritime project that complements the growth of the Saudi energy industry and helps to meet the development and diversification objectives outlined by Saudi Vision 2030. The project will comply with all of the Saudi government’s environmental and sustainability requirements.