Wilhelmsen Ships Service provides agency support to major port construction project

Tuesday, Jan 26, 2010

Up to 14 vessels operated by van Oord will be supporting the project and Wilhelmsen Ships Service  will be managing the formalities of co-ordinating with port authorities, customs, immigration and other areas of port liaison.  The company will also handle all husbandry issues such as crew changes, and sludge and waste disposals. 

Land reclamation in the North Sea and dredging of the port basins will expand the existing port and industrial zone on the west side of Maasvlakte with 1000 hectares new land for port activities and industry. The contractor of Maasvlakte 2 is PUMA (Project Organisation for the Expansion of the Maasvlakte), a joint venture between the Dutch dredging and marine contractors Boskalis and Van Oord.  

Van Oord’s operating vessels include up to ten trailing suction hopper dredgers working on the land reclamation work, which will transport 210 million m3 of sand from the offshore mining location to the new land along the coast. The joint venture will also deploy cutter suction dredgers to deepen the port basin to -20 metres NAP (Normal Sea Level at Amsterdam), so that even the biggest container ships can dock there. This part of the work will produce 30 million m3 of sand that will also be reused in the project. 

The first phase of the Maasvlakte 2 project will be completed in 2013. The port will also see the construction of the onshore infrastructure including quay walls, roads, railways and cycle paths. 

“We are very excited about being involved in this major project,” comments Operations Manager Henk Schuil.  “As the world’s leading maritime service network, Wilhelmsen Ships Service has a strong capability in providing the range of necessary resources to a project of this type.”

Source: Wilhelmsen Ships Service