The Main Ingredients are Sand and Water

The Netherlands holds many dredging companies and the exciting aspect is that they run from large multinationals to smaller medium-sized companies. For our dredging special we visited three smaller dredging-related companies. Teus Vlot, a supplier, Holland MT, specialised insupply of dredge engineering and equipment, and last but not least Van den Herik, a dredging operator. These companies prove that size does not always matter.

On the river Merwede in Sliedrecht sits Teus Vlot Dredging, a small company founded five years ago as part of the larger Teus Vlot Group. “The dynamics of our knowledge combined with our specialists, create our success”, states Aalt Boonen, head of the dredging department. “My colleagues and I have been in the industry for around forty years. The age of the company does not reflect the high level of knowledge we can offer.” The Teus Vlot Group is a family-owned company, which has existed since 1992 and has continued to develop steadily, culminating in the addition of a dredging department.

Focus on service

Teus Vlot Dredging offers service, repair and maintenance for dredging vessels and equipment. Its location on the Merwede means vessels have easy access to the company, which boasts their own harbour basin and two tower cranes to ensure easy mooring. “We made a roaring start”, comments a proud Boonen. “We have all the necessary components in one company and can offer our customers the full package, which is high-level custom-made products. From engineering and custom- builds to pumps and overhauls. We can convert vessels to dredgers or build new suction-, cutter suction- and hopper dredgers ranging from stationary to self-propelled”, explains Boonen. “Next to that we can build dredging material, such as booster stations and sifting installations. With all this put together, our main focus is service for our customers.”

Recently Teus Vlot Dredging worked on a transit station called Cruquius for Boskalis and they also installed new pumps on the TSHD Zeezand Express (loosely translated: the Sea Sand Express), a dredger owned by Noordzand. Next to that Teus Vlot has several project worldwide, such as in Nigeria, Africa. Boonen: “As many people say, Sliedrecht in the Netherlands is a conglomeration of all things dredging. Many large dredging companies are situated in this Dutch town and it has become a pool of dredging knowledge. This combined with the stability of the dredging industry, lead us to believe 2012 will be a successful year.”

Large international impact

Another newcomer in the international dredging industry is HollandMT. The company is supplier of dredge engineering and equipment packages and relatively new to the market. HollandMT was founded in 2009, consisting of Holland Dredge Parts BV, for the supply of dredge parts, and Holland Dredge Systems BV, focused on the supply of dredger design packages and dredge systems. ”We have experienced rapid growth since our market introduction in 2009. The Dutch dredging industry is well-known overseas”, states Jan Willem de Wit, one of the co-founders and marketing & sales director of HollandMT, based in Woerden, the Netherlands. “Our focus is to supply dredge engineering, equipment packages and support services to medium size dredging contractors and shipyards.” Despite a present low in large international dredging projects, HollandMT thrives well serving afore mentioned niche markets. He continues; “Furthermore, we offer our clients custom- made and state-of-the-art solutions, thanks to our vast network of engineering and fabrication partners.”

“Even though we are relatively new in the business, we have a large portfolio of customers of which 90% is located overseas, from China to the USA”, smiles De Wit. “We also have an office in South-East Asia, from where outsourcing and partner-yard activities are coordinated. We can offer the clients cost effective fabrication, whilst guaranteeing quality and performance based on Dutch engineering and project management skills, which is considered very positive. Most of our clients are involved in maintenance dredging of canals and harbours. This dredging equipment deals with large quantities of corrosive sand and is continuously submitted to wear and tear. Over the past years HollandMT has been successful in providing equipment solutions for this type of dredging applications. We have noticed that large investments regarding new-buildings are temporarily put on hold, yet maintenance of harbours and waterways will always be necessary. This provides a continuous amount of work for dredging companies and we can assist them in this.”

Cooperating is key

Almost halfway through 2012, HollandMT has many exciting projects they are working on, such as the ST Pierre; a 2,000 m3 trailing suction hopper dredger, launched in March 2012. Built by STX France’s Lorient shipyard, HollandMT assisted in the design of the vessel and also supplied a turnkey of dredging systems, engineering and services, such as a submerged dredge pump unit, dredge pipe lines, adjustable overflows including environmental valve and the integration of the dredging systems in the vessel. De Wit: “We are also working on a 2,400m3 trailing suction hopper dredger for Koashiung Harbour Bureau in Taiwan, which is one of the largest container ports in the world. We have also developed the Dredge-X150 design with ship designer FKAB from Sweden, the design is a backhoe pontoon dredger accommodating a Liebherr P984 awarded to us by dredging company SOMIT from Italy.”

Due to successful completion of many large international dredging projects, the Dutch dredging companies are regarded as leading international dredging contractors. The use of Dutch dredging technology is also highly regarded which provides strong benefits and business opportunities for HollandMT. Having an impact and innovating and diversifying your way to creating an impact is something that has kept Van den Herik a stable company for many, many years. Van den Herik was founded in 1946 and has since grown into a multi-disciplinary dredging company. ”You know what I find the best part of our industry? When we add land to the map of the Netherlands”, states Jan Huijbers, director of Van den Herik.

Working with water

The slogan ‘working with water’ represents the many facets of Van den Herik. From dredging ports to regulating rivers and searching and disarming World War II bombs, the company chose to service many markets and as such is one of few medium-sized dredging companies thriving in Europe. Next to the office in Sliedrecht, Van den Herik has nine affiliated companies in the Netherlands, Germany and France. Huijbers: “Each affiliated company offers its own specialism. This is why we can offer our customers anything they require from one company. Diverse, but always maintaining our Van den Herik level of quality.”

Van den Herik enjoyed a stable year in 2011 and has many projects to look forward to in the years to come. Huijbers: “We have just finished the sand replenishment at Domburg in the Netherlands for the Dutch Department of Waterways and Public Works. We do about 70% of all the work for that department. Next to that we worked on a new diving basin for the Dutch Armed Forces in the new port in Den Helder. Furthermore, we are doing the dredging, draining and dumping of 900,000 m3 mortar in La Rochelle in France. A lot to look forward to and you know what? This industry is always adventurous and never boring.”

Looking toward the future, Huijbers expects to see a rise in the need for qualified personnel in the dredging industry. “As we are a medium- sized company we can offer young graduates an exciting place to work. The relatively small nature of our company means people are a part of the solution as well as the final installment or dredging work. You can be creative, with the added risk of having to shoulder more responsibility, but that is part of the excitement.”

Durable and sustainable

Responsibility is one of the main ingredients for Van den Herik, especially corporate social responsibility is a high priority and Huijbers speaks of this matter passionately: “We want our future generations to be able to enjoy this world. This means we have to think about what we do and the products and vessels we use. Towards the end of last year we received a CO2 certificate level four, which we are very proud of. It is our goal to service our customers with durability and sustainability in mind.”

Van den Herik Sliedrecht, Teus Vlot and Holland MT show us just what smaller companies can do and achieve not only in the Netherlands, but also in Europe and even more so in the rest of the world. Size does not always matter.

Rebecca McFedries