The official commencement of the Suez Canal Expansion Dredging Contract is now one step closer with the arrival of the first Consortium dredger, the National Marine Dredging Company’s ‘Al Mirfa’.
Dignitaries from Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Netherlands and Belgium celebrated the arrival of the vessel.
The Al Mirfa, mobilized to the project from the UAE, is the first dredger to arrive on the site from up to 20 that may be needed in order to dredge approximately 180 million m³ of soil.
The Consortium consisting of National Marine Dredging Company (UAE), Van Oord, Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (The Netherlands) and Jan De Nul (Belgium) were awarded the $1.5 billion contract from the Suez Canal Authorities for the New Suez Canal Project.
This part of the works entails dredging a new canal some 35km in length parallel to the existing and will require the mobilization of up to 20 dredgers onto the project.
The 10,919 KW Heavy Duty Cutter Suction Dredger Al Mirfa was built by IHC Merwede (Royal IHC) for the National Marine Dredging Company of Abu Dhabi back in 2000. The 97m long dredger was built in accordance with Bureau Veritas rules and regulations.
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Source: nmdc