Green focus for Van Oord

In 2014, two-thirds of the company’s self-propelled vessels were awarded International Energy Efficiency Certificates and an order for two new trailing suction hopper dredgers specifies fuel efficiency as a top priority.

Last year also saw Van Oord develop various Guards like ReefGuard, FaunaGuard, and PlumeGuard, and eco-engineering solutions that were included in tender proposals and were actively applied during projects such as Eneco Luchterduinen, Liverpool 2, Sandy Bottom, and KNPC, in a bid to be sustainable. As a result, the company reduced its CO2 footprint in 2014 by 10% compared to 2010.

Going forward, the company will be investing more than $1bn in building new vessels and modernising and replacing its fleet as part of its 2013-2018 Strategic Plan. In 2014, this investment included an order for a new fallpipe vessel, Bravenes, which is currently being built by the Sinopacific Shipbuilding Group Shanghai. Two trailing suction hopper dredgers are also being developed and are now under construction at the LaNaval shipyard in Spain.

Van Oord’s strategy will also continue to focus on its three current activities: dredging, offshore wind and offshore oil and gas.

The company’s offshore wind projects division grew significantly in 2014 with the award of two major contracts to Eneco Luchterduinen and Gemini. With the development of the offshore wind market still in full swing, Van Oord says it will, despite uncertainty surrounding the political decision-making on the construction of large offshore wind parks and the necessary government support for these types of projects, continue to grow with offshore opportunities and the generation of sustainable energy.

Elsewhere, Van Oord’s dredging operations remained stable in 2014, as did its offshore oil and gas activities.

As a result, the company achieved a record turnover of €2.1bn in 2014 thanks to a “well filled” order portfolio, which was valued at €3.222bn at year-end 2014. Net profit for 2014 amounted to €119m.