Whereas in the past the dredging market had been driven by a single factor or combination of factors, such as demand for land reclamation projects or the need for new port infrastructure, now a number of factors are at work, including the above mentioned, plus a high level of demand for dredging work for offshore projects, dredging related work for new LNG projects, dredging for industrial developments, and the very large number of huge tourism related projects such as the Palm Islands and The World off Dubai.

He also noted that another important feature of the 'new' dredging market is that, whereas in the past the demand for most types of project was relatively short-term, the range and type of projects now coming up for bidding have much longer timeframes, thus providing companies such as Boskalis with what they hope will be a stable long term outlook.