'It is precisely our involvement in impressive land reclamation projects elsewhere in the world, for example The Palm and The World in Dubai, that makes us proud to show our capabilities in our own country', said Mr van Herwijnen.

The first part of the Maasvlakte 2 site will be constructed between 2008 and 2013. Under the contract, the consortium will construct 11km of seawall, the first 700 ha or so of the new port site (900 ha in total), and 3km of quay walls. It will also excavate the port basins to their required depth and build 11km of roads.

The contract further stipulates that the consortium will be responsible for maintaining the Maasvlakte 2 seawall for an initial five year period after the work is completed. The project will require 240m m³ of sand, 7.5m tons of stone and concrete blocks. The first container terminal will begin to operate in 2013.