Busy start to 2008 for DEME

With the introduction into service of the trailing suction dredger ‘Brabo’ and with the launch of the trailing suction hopper dredger ‘Breydel’, the Group has completed its current investment programme. Amongst other things, this programme included the construction of the most powerful cutter suction dredger ever constructed, five trailing suction hopper dredgers, a big backhoe dredger and their specialized service vessels. These are busy times for DEME, with contracts coming in from around the world. During the past year, the Antwerp Group engaged 390 new employees, 250 of which in Belgium. The Belgian home market remains very important to DEME, in its own right and as a bridge to export. At the beginning of January, the Flemish Prime Minister Kris Peeters officially started the long-awaited deepening of the river Scheldt. Symbolically, the brand new trailing hopper suction dredger ‘Brabo’ lowered its suction pipe to the river bed and put the first deepening material in its hopper. The Belgian home market enables DEME to let its new employees acquire experience and to coach them closely in order to prepare them for their important tasks in the far abroad. The Belgian projects offer a valuable reference for obtaining complex projects abroad – DEME gets 80% of its turnover from the international market. With contracts valuing 150 million, the Middle East represents DEME’s principal market, with several important projects in the United Arab Emirates – in Abu Dhabi and Ras Al Khaimah. In Latin America, DEME has contracts in Venezuela, for the maintenance of the river Orinoco and Maracaibo Bay, amounting to some €25 million. In South Africa, the Group is managing the extension of Durban, Africa’s biggest harbour in the Southern Hemisphere, and it has now added a contract for maintenance dredging in Richard’s Bay. Furthermore, DEME has won new contracts in Libya, Tunisia and Algeria, accounting for €70 million Euros. In the Far East and Australia, DEME has added Port Hedland, Bunbury and Gladstone to Cape Lambert as its reference points. Combined with a new maintenance contract in Pakistan, this will generate an additional turnover of €40 million. In Europe, orders to the value of €60 million have been signed: in the offshore area, with an important contract obtained for erosion protection around platforms in the North Sea. Moreover, a long-term contract was signed for the reclamation and delivery of gravel to Gdansk in Poland. On top of these €300 million, DEME will contribute to the extension of the new outer harbour of Ostend (harbour jetties) and, of course, to the deepening of the river Scheldt. As part of its strategy to win these projects, DEME has in recent years been making considerable investments. A series of big, new vessels and specialized units have been commissioned by the Group – in every business segment, in every size and each and every one of them with its own unique characteristics. These vessels include, among others: the d’Artagnan, the biggest and most powerful self-propelled cutter suction dredger in the world, the five brand new and innovative trailing suction hopper dredgers Pallieter, Reynaert, Marieke, Brabo and Breydel, the backhoe dredger Pinocchio and a series of supporting work vessels and auxiliary vessels. At present, a full complement of staff is provided for all of these vessels. Less than a month after its delivery, the Brabo was working on the deepening of the river Scheldt – after it had been brought into action for the deepening of the Princes Channel, in the Thames estuary. The Brabo is currently the most modern dredger of its type on the market. In addition, DEME has also launched its latest trailing suction hopper dredger, the Breydel, having a hopper capacity of 9000m3, which concludes the current investment programme of the Antwerp Group. At the moment, DEME is finalising a new investment programme reflecting a further increase in dredging efficiency and strength in all segments of its fleet.