Mega Swinoujscie-Szczecin dredging project completed
Photo Credit: Van Oord
Van Oord and DEME have marked the end of the Swinoujscie-Szczecin Fairway dredging project in Poland that will allow larger vessels to call at the Port of Szczecin.
Major work to deepen and widen the fairway from a depth of 10.5m to 12.5m began in 2020 and has yielded some 24m m3 of material.
The contract has a value of approximately EUR313m and is co-financed by the European Union, which is fostering Polish ports as pivotal in its Baltic-Adriatic Corridor scheme.
The project also included the reclamation of around 350ha of land in the form of two artificial islands and the planting of over 9,000 trees and bushes. One of these has almost immediately become a sanctuary for birds including several endangered species, according to local news sources.
Challenges of the project – including performing most of the work during the pandemic – also included the presence of unexploded ordnance.
“It is a challenging project and an opportunity to demonstrate Van Oord’s and DEME’s capabilities in offering integrated dredging solutions to our client,” said Govert van Oord, Area Director Europe at Van Oord, at the time the contract was announced.
Some 10 vessels were included in the work including Van Oord trailing suction hopper dredgers Vox Amalia and HAM317, DEME cutter suction dredger Amazone, and trailing suction hopper dredgers Scheldt River and Meuse River.
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