Boskalis and Van Oord win $570m Arctic port dredging in Sweden
The Swedish Maritime Administration awarded a EUR 500m contract to deepen the Port of Lulea for larger ships under the Malmporten project.
Sweden has awarded a contract worth around EUR 500m ($570m) to Dutch dredging majors Boskalis and Van Oord to deepen the shipping fairway and harbour basin at the Port of Lulea, a gateway to the Scandinavian Arctic on the Gulf of Bothnia. Revenues are expected to be split roughly equally between the two Benelux-based owners.
Around 14m cubic metres of material will be removed between 2027 and 2030 under the Malmporten project, using trailing suction hopper dredgers, backhoe and grab dredgers and drill-and-blast platforms working in the ice-free seasons. The work will deepen the 40 km fairway and basin to accommodate ships with drafts up to 14.7 m and cargoes up to 85,000 tonnes, nearly double the current 45,000-tonne limit.
The administration called it Sweden's largest-ever dredging project, tied to the region's fossil-free steel and renewable-energy push. A new ice-breaking harbour tug, the Damen-built Victoria, has already been delivered to support year-round operations.
Source: Riviera Maritime Media (via Maasmond Maritime press clippings).
