Van der Kamp and Port of Rotterdam Sign Dredging Contract

Van der Kamp recently won a contract to handle dredging work in the Rotterdam port area.

According to the agreement, the Zwolle-based dredging company will be responsible for keeping Rotterdam’s port basins at the correct depth until 2023.

To perform the task, the company will use a LNG-powered dredging vessel named Ecodelta. The ship, a key component of the new contract between Van der Kamp and the Port of Rotterdam Authority, is currently being built at the Barkmeijer shipyard in Friesland.

Delivery of the vessel and start of her operations is expected in 2018.

All in all, the contracted work concerns an annual volume of 5 million cubic meters of dredged material. Dredging is to be done by a number of vessels, including the Hein and the Rijndelta, which are 36 and 30 years old respectively.

The Rijndelta will be handling the main share of the maintenance work, while the Hein will ‘step in’ when activities need to be scaled up due to excess siltation. The Ecodelta is expected to replace the Rijndelta in the longer term.