The Port of Rotterdam Authority has started dredging the Yukonhaven on Maasvlakte 2. The dredging work will prepare the port for Gate terminal’s new LNG breakbulk infrastructure.
Images of the operations can be followed live via a live stream provided by the Port of Rotterdam.
Gate, with main shareholders Gasunie and Vopak, and the Port of Rotterdam are building a new port basin together that will be suitable for LNG breakbulk services. The new breakbulk infrastructure will be constructed next to Gate terminal, Dutch first facility of this kind.
Thanks to a new handling installation, bunker vessels and smaller tankers for inland shipping will shortly be able to bunker LNG just like cars at a petrol pump. The vessels will then be able to supply LNG-powered ships or carry LNG to other parts of Europe. The new facility is expected to give the use of LNG a boost as a clean and affordable fuel for the transport sector in the Netherlands and Northwest Europe.
In the coming period, the Port of Rotterdam Authority will be dredging around 500,000 m3 of sand. The sand will be put to a new use on Maasvlakte 2.
The dredging operations are the ‘closing piece’ for the Port Authority, which is responsible for the construction of a basin and quay infrastructure.
The Authority expects to complete the work at the end of this year, after which Gate will start on the construction of the installations. The first LNG ship is expected in the summer of 2016.
Source: Port of Rotterdam Authority