Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) contracted by Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Cuxhaven to maintain 110-km of the River Elbe fairway.
The contract is for a period of three years and has a value of approximately EUR 75 million and the dredging operations are to commence in May 2013.
The dredging activities are related to maintaining the shipping fairway of the River Elbe between the city of Wedel northward in the direction of Cuxhaven. The river is an important shipping connection between the North Sea and the Port of Hamburg, where Boskalis recently maintained the port's basins. During the three-year contract period a total of around 28 million cubic meters of sand and silt will be removed, transported and placed at designated areas along the river. For this project a medium to large-sized trailing suction hopper dredger along with smaller trailing suction hopper dredgers for the shallow areas will be deployed.
The Port of Hamburg is the third largest port in Europe after Rotterdam and Antwerp. In 2011 this important European logistics hub was the port of call for around 10,000 ocean-going vessels with freight volumes totalling 132.2 million tons.