Posted on October 18, 2021
Dutch dredging majors Boskalis and Van Oord have been jointly contracted for the deepening of the inner harbour area of Harwich Haven UK in a 50-50 contract valued at €140m.
Under the agreement, Boskalis and van Oord will dredge the Harwich approach channel and inner harbour from 14.5m to 16m to allow the largest containrships to call at Harwich Haven and the Port of Felixstowe. Felixstowe is the UK’s busiest container port, handling some 48% of Britain’s box trade. The ports of Ipswich and Mistley are also accessible through Harwich Haven.
Key to the contract is a specification for the consortium’s use of sustainable biofuel, which can be acquired in different formulations so as to be alike for like replacement for heavy fuel oil, marine diesel oil or LNG and can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 40%. Historically, Bosklais has teamed with biofuel supplier Goodfuels while Van Oord embarked on a pilot study in partnership with Shell.
The pressure is on for ports across the UK as Britain adapts to a new regime of post-Brexit customs regulations. This, as well as global disruption brought on by Covid-19, are forming a one-two punch causing major congestion and increased pressure at ports. A recent report by Hamburg based global container logistics experts Container xChange points to ‘more complicated dual-Customs regimes’ which are likely to be ‘a factor in logistics bottlenecks’ independent of Covid-19.
A report late last year by the UK Ports Major Ports Group trade association estimated that 22% to 60% of cargo volumes, with reference to 2018 totals, could switch to other ports outside the Calais-Dover corridor and, in doing so, would make the best use of UK port capacity.
