10 Months to Move 180 Million Cubic Metres

On 17th February, 1867, the first vessel sailed through the Suez Canal, shortening the sailing time between Europe and the Far East tremendously. Around 17,000 vessels make use of the canal each year, making it one of Egypt’s main sources of income. In 2014, the country announced they wanted to expand the canal to almost double the number of vessels passing each day.

The contract for this project is worth € 1.2 billion, making it very wanted among dredgers. No surprise it was international news when Dutch dredgers Van Oord and Boskalis were awarded the contract, together with Belgian Jan De Nul NV and National Marine Dredging Company from the United Arab Emirates. They have until 5 August to dredge 180 million cubic metres.

“A year ago I wouldn’t have dared to say that the Suez Canal would be one of the biggest projects 2015 would have in store for us. Since spring 2014 it became increasingly clear that the works on the Suez Canal corridor are of political, but above all of economical importance as next to the main goal of improving the shipping route between the Far East and Europe, the Suez Canal will also enhance the economical developments in the so-called ‘economic zones’ along the canal”, says Robert de Bruin, spokesman at Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors.

The only way

But, let’s start at the beginning. Wim Dhont, area manager Middle East at Jan De Nul Group explains why the four companies chose to work together to win the contract: “As soon as we learned Egypt wanted to expand the Suez Canal and what the size of the works would be, we knew working together was going to be the only way we would be able to win this contract but also to perform the works on time. A cooperation with Van Oord and Boskalis was a good option for us, since we have worked together often before.” And they have also engaged with NMDC in the past.

John Mackenzie, Business Development Director at NMDC: “The quantity of dredging combined with the very imposing completion schedule resulted that one party would not be able to complete the works on its own.” De Bruin agrees: “The composition of the consortium was a strategic decision. NMDC, for example, is one of the largest Middle East dredging contractors. We will perform the works as a joint venture, in which the four companies are the partners that will each perform an equal part of the project.”

“National Marine Dredging Company has a long history of cutter suction dredging capacity and more recently has shown its capability to operate as an independent player in the regional market, therefore it was a natural progression that we should join to participate with the European giants of the dredging industry”, adds Mackenzie.

International business

To negotiate with an employer from another part of the world can be challenging. How is business going between Eu- rope and the Far East? Mackenzie answers: “The project has commenced at a very fast track pace. All the different company personnel have come together and shown that very quickly a mix of nationalities and cultures can work together to overcome issues required to manage and operate such a large scale dredging project.” Dhont agrees that everything went smoothly: “Both parties had no time to lose, since Egypt wanted the work to be finished on 5 August 2015. The only way we all wanted to go was forward.”

$ 13.1 billion

Although around 49 vessels can pass each day the waiting time is significant, since the current width of the Suez Canal only enables one-way traffic. The vessels, therefore, sail in convoys, which may enter the Canal on set times, resulting in waiting times up to half a day. Dhont: “Egypt wants to avoid that the shipping route around Africa will become more attractive for shipping companies as the waiting time is increasing, and is meeting their users’ wishes by widening the Suez Canal so two convoys of vessels can pass each other in the middle.”

In 2010, 17,993 vessels carried a freight of 646,064 tons times 1,000, worth $ 4,768.9 million of toll. In 2012 the number had dropped to 17,225 vessels, although they carried an increased number of 739.911 tons times 1,000 of freight. “To enable an increase in the number of vessels, a corridor with a length of 50 kilometres will be constructed parallel to the middle 50 kilometres of the Suez Canal, which has a total length of 193 kilometres. When fin- ished, the expectation is that 97 vessels can pass each day”, Dhont continues. Eventually, the Suez Canal Authority hopes to gain $ 13.1 billion of toll a year in ten years.

De Bruin: “The 50 kilometre long corridor has been divided into six lots; Lot 2 till 5 has to be executed by the four partners of the consortium, a total of 35 kilometres.” The corridor is going to be 24 metres deep and will have an aver- age width of 147 metres, flowing parallel to the existing Suez Canal.

“The consortium scope is in total 180 million cubic metres; each company will dredge an equal part making Van Oord responsible for around 45 million cubic metres”, says De Bruin. The dredged soil will be discharged in the desert surrounding the Suez Canal.

Dhont: “To enable work over the whole length of the corridor and not only at its starting points, we have created gutters between the existing canal and the corridor in every lot so the four partners can work towards each other, enabling us to finish on time.”

A lot of equipment

To be finished on 5th of August, the consortium is also using a lot of equipment. Mackenzie: “The principle dredging equipment required for the project will be the cutter suction dredger and may require the mobilisation of up to 20 dredgers. Additional dredge capacity will also be provided by trailing suction hopper dredgers. NMDC is participating with five cutter suction dredgers from its fleet besides multiple auxiliary marine fleet of tugboats, multicats, barges and many support vessels.”

De Bruin: “At this moment two of our cutter suction dredgers, Hercules and HAM 218, already arrived in Egypt and started their work. Later, they will be joined by one of our our self-propelled cutters and at the end of the project we will also use a hopper suction dredger. So, a lot of equipment is needed.” Jan De Nul is Group using five dredgers as well, and maybe there are more to come.

Dhont: “Although this seems a lot of vessels, there will be no interference between our works on the corridor and the traffic in the Suez Canal. The only day we will be in touch with the canal is the day we are going to connect it with the corridor.”

A logistical challenge

But even then, the construction of the corridor is a challenge logistically speaking. Dhont: “Around 1,500 people will be employed during the course of the project, a difficult feat. All the personnel, the equipment, accommodation, piping, fuel and everything else need to be at the right place at
the right moment.”

De Bruin: “Next to employing the right vessels for the works, a lot of people are involved: on the vessels, at the office, on site etcetera. Van Oord as the company employs around 5,000 people, and I think that during the peak moments of this project around 400 of our employees will be involved in some way. The project is also creating a great spin off for the maritime industry surrounding us and the other partners.”

Dhont agrees with the logistical importance of the project: “That we are part of the consortium that won the contract, shows that Jan De Nul Group is one of the world leaders
in the dredging industry, which means a great deal for our company. It enables us to employ our personnel in 2015, and provide work for suppliers.”

De Bruin adds to explain: “This project is, as we call it, an icon-project: large scale, visible and economically of utmost importance. As an icon it is comparable to the construction of the Palm Islands in Dubai, the Maasvlakte 2 in Rotterdam or Hong Kong airport. Of course it is important for Van Oord to be involved, but Dutch engineering firms, universities and research institutes have also a big interest. These kind of projects are very important for the Dutch export position worldwide.”

Anne Kregting