Dredging Company Boskalis Christens Largest Ship Ever in Its Fleet

Krimpen aan den IJssel – Dredging company Boskalis is ready to rapidly carry out major land reclamation projects. On Friday afternoon, the largest ship ever in the fleet will be christened “Seaway” in Krimpen aan den IJssel. “This is Dutch pride at its finest.”

In Europe’s largest covered shipbuilding hall, owned by shipbuilder IHC, the new flagship only just fits through the door. The ship is 185 meters long and about 30 meters high from the keel to the roof of the wheelhouse. The massive pumps on deck will soon be able to suck up hundreds of cubic meters of sand or silt per minute.

“This is the second new ship in my career,” says Captain Marius Hoekstra proudly, as he leads a tour across the deck. From the wheelhouse, a deep hopper (a special type of hold) can be seen, large enough to fit the contents of 2,000 dump trucks full of sand. “The ship will be further completed in the coming months once it’s in the water. It will enter service in the second quarter of next year. The ship is full of technical systems and innovations, with hundreds of kilometers of cables,” says Hoekstra, showing that, according to tradition, a coin has been placed beneath the keel — a symbol for good luck and prosperity.

The Seaway will be used for land reclamation, sucking up sand and depositing it elsewhere. This can include replenishing Dutch beaches, but also massive land reclamation projects. A high-profile example completed last year was the airport in Manila, Philippines – a €1.5 billion project.

“We don’t yet know what Seaway’s first job will be, but with this ship we’re ready to build the next airport at sea,” says Martijn Schuttevaer of Boskalis, which operates worldwide. That global reach brings challenges, as each country has its own requirements for ships, something taken into account during the new build and certification process.

The maritime company initially planned a smaller ship, but during development, they optimized the design and it kept growing. The Boskalis hopper fleet now consists of 25 large ships.

“We didn’t want just more of the same; we wanted to stand out from other dredging companies. That led to the choice of this design, which also allows us to work in shallow waters near the coast. The farther out the ship has to be to deposit the sand, the higher the costs and energy usage. This ship has 30% more capacity than the average hopper currently in service. Since we can work faster, we have a competitive advantage. We did the math and this is truly Dutch pride,” says Kees Kamp, director of new builds at Boskalis, referring to the famous novel Holland’s Glory by Jan de Hartog about ocean towing.

One major difference compared to other Boskalis ships is the propulsion system: it doesn’t use a traditional propeller but instead uses so-called azipods, which resemble large outboard motors. The company has opted for a fully diesel-electric ship, which in the future can also run on methanol. Building a ship of this size is not without risk. “During construction, there were three incidents. Fortunately, everyone has recovered, but every accident is one too many,” says Kamp.

The investment in Seaway amounts to several hundred million euros, though Boskalis won’t disclose the exact figure. Both IHC and Boskalis share the same shareholder, HAL Investments. The competition in shipbuilding is fierce, with much construction happening in the Middle East and Asia. Still, there’s no forced internal purchasing at IHC, says Schuttevaer.

“The Seaway is a showpiece in the maritime world, and for us as a company, it’s a major step forward. The Netherlands still leads in shipbuilding when it comes to complex vessels that require precision in their technical systems. Seaway is exactly that kind of ship.”