Port expands container capacity by 4 million TEU

The dredging, which will be carried out along the 2.4km of new quay wall built by a consortium of Van Oord, UK civil engineering firm HOCHTIEF and Dutch builder Ballast Nedam, is part of major works at the port that will result in 1,825 metres of deep-sea quay, 160 metres of inland shipping quay and 360 metred of earth-retaining walls.

Van Oord vessels Biesbosch, a cutter suction dredger, and Vox Apolonia, a suction hopper dredger, are working in tandem to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven at the Maasvlakte terminals.

Dredged sand will be used in the adjacent Prinses Alexiahaven, where it will be used to create 45 hectares of land, and the silt and clay that cannot be used for land reclamation will be taken out to sea.

The dredging also provides a first for Van Oord’s Remotely Operated Vehicle, which will be used to inspect the works.

APM Terminals,  part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, opened at Maasvlakte II in 2015 as a fully automated facility with zero carbon emissions.

The additional section of the terminal will also operate with net-zero emissions and be ready for shore power installation.