Port of Southampton dredging completed
Dredgers from the fleet of Boskalis Westminster have completed a program of capital dredging to deepen and widen the approach channel linking international shipping lanes to the ABP Port of Southampton, UK.
The £40m dredging project’s scope of works included widening at Marchwood to improve navigation safety for vessels accessing the container terminal. The channel was widened by 30m at the existing maintained dredge level of -12.6m CD over a length of about 0.9 km
Improvement of the port main access channel included widening of the channel from the existing maintained dredge level of -12.6m CD to -13.6m CD over a length of about 5.4 km between Dock Head and Fawley and between Hook and Hamble Spit, in order to allow crossing of vessels and improve traffic management and safety, in a phased dredge programme.
Outer channel deepening improved the tidal window for accessing the port, with the Thorn channel deepened from -12.6m CD to -13.8m CD, and the Nab channel deepened from -13.3m CD to -14.8m CD.
The work ensures ships with a draught of up to 15.5m – the biggest container vessels currently in service – will be able to access the Port’s container terminal.
The dredging is the final piece of the project to enhance capability at the container terminal that is operated by DP World. The SCT 5 berth has a 500m deepwater quay and is purpose built to cater for the largest ships in the world. As well as deepwater access, it is also equipped with the latest cranes, capable of reaching across vessels 24 containers wide.
The project benefits a wide range of commercial shipping, including those serving Marchwood Military Port and at Fawley Refinery.
More than five million cubic metres of material were removed. Where possible, alternative uses have been found for the dredged material, with some 20% being used in the construction of the new breakwater in Cowes Harbour or placed in an existing licensed aggregate site for future re-use.
As well as deepening the approach to the Port, dredging at Marchwood and near Fawley has improved navigational safety and the ability of vessels to pass in the channel.
Chris Lewis, managing director of DP World Southampton said: “The main channel dredging will enable container vessels to depart the terminal at 15.5m draught which is very important to our shipping line customers where Southampton is last port of call out of Europe. Our new SCT 5 berth, which is dredged to 16m, can also be further deepened to 17m to meet future demand.”
By Larz Bourne
