Ballast Nedam News

Van Oord’s cutter suction dredger Biesbosch and trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Apolonia are teaming up to dredge the Prinses Amaliahaven located on Maasvlakte in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.A consortium of Van Oord, HOCHTIEF and Ballast Nedam has constructed 2.4 kilometres of new quay wall. The new quays are being dredged to a depth of more than 20 metres below sea level. This development means that the Port of Rotterdam Authority is ensuring an expansion of container capacity in Rotterdam.In total 1…

As of April 1, Ronald Suhlmann will become chief financial officer of Damen Shipyards Group. He succeeds Tom Touber, who held this position ad interim for two years.Suhlmann started his career at Ballast Nedam and moved to Damen in 2015, where the register controller was both financial director of the Dutch shipbuilding conglomerate's naval and yachting divisions. With his appointment as CFO, Suhlmann becomes a member of Damen's executive board.In addition, the areas of risk,…

Huisman announced Theo Bruijninckx has been appointed as the company’s new chief executive officer to replace Joop Roodenburg, who decided to step down to the president role. Bruijninckx joined Huisman as chief financial officer and member of the board in May 2017. In his new role as CEO, he is responsible for the daily operation of the company, while Roodenburg will focus on the development of technical solutions and customer relationships. “Since 1981 Huisman is a family owned business. I have taken over from my father and my wish is to handover the company to the next generation.

The renovated Stena Line Terminal at Europoort is officially taken into operation. As well as upgrading the existing berth, the terminal was expanded with a second berth to handle roll-on/roll-off vessels. The expansion means that Stena Line is prepared for the anticipated further increase in freight volumes between Rotterdam and the United Kingdom. The renovated quay with two berths comprises a total of 212 metres. “We are delighted with the new quay and the doubling of the berths,” said Annika Hult, Trade Director of Stena Line Noordzee. Annika added: “We firmly believe in Europoort’s future as a strong freight hub on the North Sea. The number of departures has increased in recent years, and ship capacity has also increased.

CWind, a provider of integrated services to the wind industry, announced today that it is providing corrosion protection services to Ballast Nedam at Butendiek Offshore Wind Farm (OWF). The service, which extends to all WTG foundations, commenced in May and is expected to complete in August.   Butendiek OWF, located 35 nautical miles west of the island of Sylt in the North Sea, comprises 80 turbines with 3.6 MW capacity each, resulting in a total capacity of 288 MW once fully operational. Butendiek OWF owner, WPD, awarded Ballast Nedam the contract to supply, transport and install monopiles and transition pieces in 2013.

Van Oord has reached agreement on the acquisition of the activities of Ballast Nedam Offshore. The acquisition consists of the assets of Ballast Nedam Offshore, the dedicated EPCI staff (Engineering, Procurement, Contracting and Installation), heavy lift installation vessel Svanen and the Westermeerwind project (144 MW). The activities will be integrated into Van Oord’s Offshore Wind Projects business unit. The acquisition will strengthen Van Oord’s leading position in the offshore wind market for north west Europe. This acquisition is part of Van Oord’s strategy to expand its Offshore Wind Projects business unit. The demand for energy of the growing world population is rising constantly.

Mammoet announced today that Westermeerwind BV has reached financial close on July 25 for the turnkey construction of the Westermeerwind wind farm in Ijsselmeer, meaning work can now start on building the 48 wind turbines. The Westermeerwind wind farm consists of 48 wind turbines with a capacity of 3 MW to be installed in the water between 500-1,100 meters from the dikes of the Noordoostpolder. The client for the wind farm is Westermeerwind BV, which was founded to develop Westermeerwind at one of the windiest, and accordingly the most energy-efficient, locations in the Netherlands. Installation work is scheduled to start in March 2015. The first turbines are expected to start delivering power to the existing grid at the end of 2015.

Unique Maritime Group’s marine buoyancy solutions help stricken vessel and world’s largest windfarm; highlights the diverse uses for Seaflex buoyancy systems. Unique Maritime Group, one of the world’s leading integrated turnkey subsea and offshore solution providers, today announced two key projects, involving buoyancy systems provided by Seaflex Ltd. The London Array is an offshore wind farm under construction in the outer Thames Estuary in the United Kingdom. With 1,000 megawatt (MW) capacity, it is expected to become the world's largest offshore wind farm.

Ballast Nedam's heavy lift vessel Svanen left the port of Rotterdam last weekend. The Svanen has been commissioned by Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors to drive 56 steel piles for the foundations of the Belwind offshore wind farm off the coast of Zeebrugge (Belgium). This is the first phase of the Belwind project, which will eventually encompass a total of 110 wind turbines. Once the project is completed the 110 wind turbines will supply power to approximately 350,000 households, meaning a reduction of 540,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually. The offshore wind farm is located on Bligh Bank, a sand bank 46 kilometres from the Belgian coast where the sea has a depth of 15 to 37 meters.

Dutch construction group Ballast Nedam won a $63.83 million contract to build a harbor in the Gaza area. The construction will be financed by the Dutch and the French government, the Palestinian Authority and the European Investmentbank. The construction activities, in cooperation with French construction firm Spie Batignolles, are expected to take about 25 months.

The U.S. Navy awarded the work package on its USS Whidbey Island to Norshipco, a member of the U.S. Marine Repair shipyard family. The contract, which calls for topside phased maintenance, fixed-price availability, states for work to commence on May 24 for a September 1 completion. The work package includes topside repairs, electrical and mechanical repairs, and ship alterations. Specific mechanical repairs entail main propulsion diesel engines, and ship alterations include the RAM Mk31 Mod and Ship's Self Defense System installations. Stratos has been awarded a contract to supply C-band satellite equipment and teleport services for PanCanadian Petroleum Limited's exploration drilling program offshore Nova Scotia.

Three consortia of dredging and construction companies have qualified for the construction of Maasvlakte 2. There is one purely Dutch combination, formed by Boskalis and Van Oord, a Belgian group, consisting of Dredging International and Jan de Nul, and an international combination, comprising the Dutch company Ballast Nedam and the Danish firm Per Aarsleff. Hans Smits, Port of Rotterdam Authority CEO: “The fact that there are three consortia in the race means there is healthy competition. I therefore expect a lot of creativity in the design process, followed by competitive prices.” This summer, the Port Authority went in search of parties able to implement the first contract for the construction of the 2000 ha port expansion in the North Sea.

Dutch construction firms Hollandsche Beton Groep (HBG) and Ballast Nedam signed a contract to merge their dredging operations. The joint operation, Ballast HAM Dredging, would have sales of 635 million euros ($548 million) and about 2,000 employees. Ballast, a relatively small player in dredging, said it would hold a third of the shares in the new company which would see it achieving its required industry scale. HBG's move has angered a substantial number of its shareholders, although it believes it does not require their approval. On Tuesday, HBG shareholders said they would request a court inquiry into the firm's strategy after HBG said the planned deal with Ballast was irreversible.

Two Dutch dredging firms played down market talk that they were about to place sizeable shipbuilding contracts with IHC Caland. Dredging and construction firm Ballast Nedam said it was considering ordering a jumbo dredging ship as economic growth in Southeast Asia recovered, "but we haven't approached any shipyards yet," said spokeswoman Nel de Geus. Builder HBG repeated a statement made at its first half results presentation on Sept. 2. "We gave our unit HAM permission to order a jumbo dredger before the end of 1999...from a Dutch ship yard...This could be IHC Caland," HBG spokesman Arno Pronk said. He added HBG would make it public if a contract were signed.