Posted on January 9, 2019
Belgium’s Jan De Nul Group has signed a 25 year concession agreement with the Ecuadorian Municipality of Guayaquil for deepening and maintenance of the 95 km long access channel to the port of Guayaquil.
Under the agreement, Jan De Nul will finance the capital dredging works to deepen the existing access channel, guaranteeing a new authorised draught of 12.5m whilst also deepening the Guayas River to a draught of 7.5m. Jan De Nul will also remove rock in the offshore section of the channel, the famous bottleneck known as Los Goles. A modern VTS and toll collection system will also be installed.
Jan De Nul will mobilise three modern trailing suction hopper dredgers and a large self-propelled cutter suction dredger for this project. For the capital dredging works, an estimated volume of 25 million m3 of materials will be dredged. The capital dredging works in the Maritime channel will be executed in less than a year whilst dredging of the Guayas River will be completed within three years.
After the capital works are concluded, Jan De Nul will operate and maintain the channel under a 25 year performance based concession contract. The deepening and maintenance of the system will be financed by Jan De Nul Group and recuperated by tolls.
“This new challenge will firmly position Jan De Nul Group along the Pacific coast of Latin America, says the company’s area manager Jan Neckebroek. “We are proud to be part of this contract, giving Guayaquil Port Terminals the boost to compete with the most modern terminals in neighbouring countries.”
Source: MJ
