Following the signing of the EURO 37 million contract agreement Van Oord dredged 4.432 million cubic meters of soil.
“I am pleased to admit that it is the biggest in scale, scope and value contract in the port history. Moreover, of special gratitude is the fact that our contractor accomplished the works in due time,” said Port Director General Arvydas Vaitkus.
The capital dredging and widening of the Port navigation channel project is vitally important to Klaip?da Port. After the completion of the project the width of the port navigation channel is 150m (from 120m) and the depth respectively up to 14.5m (from 13-13.5m). The safety of gross tonnage vessels entering and leaving the port and maneuvering has also enhanced competiveness and cargo handling capacity compared to neighbouring ports.
The increase in depth of the navigation channel will see the port accommodating longer and wider post-panamax type vessels with a length of 300-310m, 40m in beam and with a maximum 13.4m draught.
The project was implemented using EU assistance funds, which came to approximately EURO 24 million.