Even though Boskalis was announced the lowest bidder in the tender for the deepening of the Elbe project in December, it is the Belgian DEME Group that will pocket the contract.
In December, Waterways and Shipping Administration Cuxhaven (WSA Cuxhaven) published the commercial outcome of the tender for the project. Boskalis submitted the lowest price after which WSA Cuxhaven was to verify the commercial and technical aspects of the tender. Boskalis then reported the contract to be worth approximately EUR 200 million. DEME now wins the contract with an approximate value of EUR 238 million.
Modern Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers, Backhoe Dredgers and Spreader Pontoons
The contract has been awarded to DEME Group’s subsidiaries Nordsee Nassbagger- und Tiefbau and Dredging International. The capital dredging contract is a complex environmental and marine engineering project which must comply with the strictest environmental requirements at all times during its execution as per the planning approval.
DEME will deploy its most modern trailing suction hopper dredgers, backhoe dredgers and spreader pontoons for the dredging, transportation and relocation of around 32 million m³ of material.
Widening and Deepening
The project consists of the widening and deepening of the 116 km long fairway between Cuxhaven and Hamburg to a level of -14.5 m. This will allow ships to sail the River Elbe with a draught of 13.5 m, compared to 12.5 m at present, and not be restricted by the tide and with a 14.5 m draught (tide-dependent) when sailing from and towards the port of Hamburg.
Nordsee Nassbagger und Tiefbau GmbH
DEME has a long track record in Germany for the construction of marine infrastructure dating back from 1968 through its subsidiary Nordsee Nassbagger und Tiefbau GmbH, which is based in Bremen. Since 2004, DEME’s hopper dredgers were regularly deployed on the River Elbe for maintaining the fairway from Cuxhaven to Hamburg.
Picture: DEME's Scheldt River was selected KNVTS Ship of the Year in 2018 and is one of the world's first dredger's to be able to run on LNG (picture by DEME).
