Van Oord has been awarded the contract for constructing land at the port of Surabaya in Indonesia. The client is a public-private partnership that includes the local port authority.
The €20m contract was signed at the Port of Tanjung Priok in Jakarta onboard the trailing suction hopper dredger HAM 310. In attendance was Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who is currently leading a trade mission to Indonesia in a bid to bolster marine contracting cooperation between the two countries.
Land created as part of the project will be used to accommodate a new industrial estate. Work is due to begin in December, and will continue until spring 2014.
Van Oord will use a large trailing suction hopper dredger to dredge 4,000,000m3 of sand from the seabed. The sand will then be used to construct five islands with a combined area of 220 hectares.
The Dutch dredging specialist already has several projects underway in Indonesia. Earlier this year, Van Oord began creating a large container port at the Port of Tanjung Priok. The company is also involved in the installation of a polder island that forms part of the Kapuk Naga Indah development plan to expand the city of Jakarta.
“Indonesia faces big marine engineering challenges,” explained company CEO Pieter van Oord. “The broad experience of Dutch engineers in protecting low-lying areas and the construction of land makes good cooperation possible.”
