The recently purchased Inchscape 18 goes directly to a long-term contract with Dutch dredging and offshore construction giant Van Oord ACZ, which is creating land for the foundations of the ambitious 'The World' resort being built 5km off the coast of Dubai.

The works follow on from the earlier 'Palm Island' resort project which had drawn a considerable number of European based dredgers and marine construction support workboats into the region.

The new ? 200m project is a series of 200 reclaimed islands arranged in the shape of a world map across a sea area measuring 6km by 4km. Some 125 million m 3of dredged sand and 13 million tonnes of rock will be used in their construction.

Access to the exclusive resort will be entirely by marine transport and Inchscape 18 will join Inchscape 17 in transporting personnel and equipment to and from the construction site.

ISS's two new workboats will be delivered later this year and will incorporate design and construction innovations developed jointly by Grandweld and ISS.

Inchscape 19 and Inchscape 20 will be 70ft and 110ft respectively in length.

MJ Information No: 19122