Van Oord recently completed local dredging operations on a 72-kilometer long channel in the Caspian Sea.
With this milestone, four years of dredging at an extremely remote location have been concluded, said the company.
Van Oord built the new channel to allow for transportation of construction modules to the Tengiz oil field in Kazakhstan, where new facilities are being erected to increase the production capacity.
Marine ingenuity
The remoteness of the location required resourceful measures during project execution. Due to the harsh winters, dredging was only possible between April and October. Furthermore, the region’s limited infrastructure and facilities made logistics unusually complex.
Four cutter suction dredgers, including the Ural River and Mangystau, have worked in formation to get the job done, assisted by more than 30 support vessels, said Van Oord.
To allow for in-situ repairs and maintenance of the support vessels, Van Oord designed and built a floating workshop barge complete with ship lift facility, hydraulic crane and on-board workshop.
Preserving wildlife
The area where dredging took place is home to various endangered species, such as birds and seals.
Van Oord closely cooperated with independent wildlife observers in order to protect the local flora and fauna.
In addition, 32 sand deposit sites were created alongside the access channel, 16 of which form islands to which animals are already finding their way to rest and breed.