Boskalis Wins Maintenance Gig for Europe’s Top Port

Dutch dredging specialist Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) has secured a multi-year contract for the maintenance dredging in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

Under the terms of the contract, the maintenance dredging will take place in the Maasmond/Maasgeul in the access channel and inner port basins of the port.

The initial contract duration is three years commencing in March 2020, with the use of a mid-sized trailing suction hopper dredger.

Boskalis said that the deal may be extended up to five more years through to 2028, subject to innovative and approved sustainability initiatives.

Boskalis said that the award criteria included various sustainability metrics, including CO2 reducing measures. However, the company pointed out that the project award was not affected by recently introduced national restrictions related to nitrogen emission.

Specifically, following a court ruling determining that nitrogen emissions from the country’s infrastructural projects were in breach of European laws, in November the Dutch government introduced measures to reduce nitrogen-based pollution and deal with the impact of PFAS contamination in soil and sludge.