Describing the Godavari contract for Reliance Industries, DEME said this newest contract in India is located at the Krishna Godavari Basin (Block KGDWN-98/3), an offshore gas field which is the largest gas find ever in India. It is being developed on the east coast of the subcontinent, 50km south of the city of Kakinada.

The gas field extends from the Godavari river mouth, over an area of 7,500km2 in water depths ranging from 400m in the northwest to 2,700m in the southeast. The first phase of the development calls for the construction of an onshore terminal, three 24in gas pipelines and 6in methanol lines, control and operation cables, and an outfall for rain and process water.

Tideway is operating as a subcontractor to the pipelaying company Allseas Marine Contractors SA, with Reliance Industries Ltd as the client. The works will be executed in a joint venture with the Dutch contractor Boskalis. Tideway will dredge a trench, starting at the point of landfall and extending to 20km offshore, where the water depth is about 50m.

The major part of the trench is situated in the Godavari river mouth itself, where strong currents during the monsoon season make dredging quite difficult. A total of some 12 million m3 of dredged material will be removed, after which one million tons of rock will be placed as protection. Auxiliary work will include construction of loading facilities, jetties and stockpiling areas on the shores of the Godavari river.

From September 2007 until April 2008 a self propelled, heavy cutter suction dredger will be used to create an access channel through a sandbar prohibiting normal access to the river. Three medium sized trailing suction hopper dredgers will be used to dredge the trench along the river section. During pipe laying a water injection vessel will combat the effects of sedimentation. After pipe laying two stone dumping/placing units will be used to install the required rock materials to protect the pipes against scour.

The new contract is the second one which was obtained by a DEME Group company in the framework of the Godavari offshore gas field project. In 2006, Dredging International's trailer Vlaanderen 20 and the cutter suction dredger Vlaanderen 11 reclaimed a total of 4.4 million m3 in the Gautami-Godavari river estuary.

Dredging International (also part of DEME) has also obtained a €50m contract for deepening and widening the sulphur handling terminal in the port of Ruwais,  240km west of the city of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. This is the second important contract Dredging International has acquired in Abu Dhabi, following the very recent €78m contract extension at the residential estate development project in Al Raba Beach.

Describing the sulphur handling terminal for Takreer in Ruwais in the United Arab Emirates, DEME said the Ruwais industrial complex is one of the major economic development sites in the Emirates.

The dredging works call for deepening the approach channel to 15m and a new turning basin. The berth area will be adapted for Panamax size bulk carriers. A total of 3.6 million m3 of hard rock material will have to be dredged and pumped ashore over a distance of up to 6.5km. The work starts immediately and needs to be finished in 14 months time. Interim milestones of six months for the berth area have been set.

Dredging International will assign the heavy duty rock dredger Al Mahaar, which is owned and operated by its Middle East affiliated company Qatar Dredging Company (QDC), a joint venture of Dredging International, the state of Qatar and Qatari based United Development Company (UDC).