Germany: Boskalis Wins Elbe River Dredging Contract

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has acquired a contract from Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Cuxhaven to maintain part of the shipping fairway of the River Elbe in Germany spanning a distance of 110 kilometers.

The contract was awarded for a period of three years and has a value of approximately EUR 75 million. The activities are to commence in May 2013.

The dredging activities are related to maintaining the shipping fairway of the River Elbe between the city of Wedel northward in the direction of Cuxhaven. The river is an important shipping connection between the North Sea and the Port of Hamburg, where Boskalis recently maintained the port’s basins. During the three-year contract period a total of around 28 million cubic meters of sand and silt will be removed, transported and placed at designated areas along the river. For this project a medium to large-sized trailing suction hopper dredger along with smaller trailing suction hopper dredgers for the shallow areas will be deployed.

The Port of Hamburg is the third largest port in Europe after Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 2011 this important European logistics hub was the port of call for around 10,000 ocean-going vessels with freight volumes totaling 132.2 million tons.

Boskalis’ strategy is aimed at benefitting from key macro-economic factors which drive worldwide demand in our markets: expansion of the global economy, increasing energy consumption, global population growth and the challenges presented by climate change. This project is driven by increasing global trade.

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Press Release, April 9, 2013