Contractor hired for largest dredging project in N Europe

The Malmporten Project has been awarded to Malmporten Dredging Contractors, perhaps unsurprisingly, but follows the cancellation of the previous procurement process in September last year.

The €525 million project is at the Port of Luleå, where 14 million cubic metres will be dredged so that the port can accommodate vessels with a draught of up to 14.7 metres.

Deeper, wider and safer fairways and a new deep-water harbour will allow more efficient sea transport with lower environmental impact per tonne of goods, under the plans.

The port has been designated by the European Union as a ‘strategically prioritised port’, and is co-financed through TEN-T – the Trans-European Transport Network – which aims to link roads, railways, ports, airports and waterways across Europe.

Malmporten is a partnership between Luleå Hamn AB, the Municipality of Luleå, the Swedish Maritime Administration and the Swedish Transport Administration.

Other major European dredging works

Marine trench excavation has been carried out for the Fehmarnbelt Fixed Link, in which submerged tunnel elements will link Denmark with Germany under the sea. About 15 million ^m3 have been dredged, and the first of 89 concrete tunnel elements, which will form the 18km tunnel, has been submerged.

In Lithuania, a €73.9 million navigation channel deepening and beach nourishment project is under way at the Port of Klaipėda. The channel’s outer navigation will be deepened to 16 metres and material dredged will be used to create a submerged offshore bar that naturally replenishes nearby eroding beaches, combining port expansion with coastal protection.

And in Scotland, though on a smaller scale, the Port of Aberdeen’s maintenance and dredging programme is strategically vital for North Sea traffic, especially the offshore wind farms in the area.

Annual dredging campaigns will be undertaken by Boskalis at the north and south harbours so that they can both accommodate vessels of 300 metres in length.