The African east coast is characterized by a shallow sea, including the port of Maputo, capital city of Mozambique. As a result, larger seagoing vessels had to divert to other ports. Jan De Nul Group’s expertise was utilised to make the harbour competitive on the regional and international market. Furthermore, it had to become a hub for countries such as Mozambique, South-Africa, Swaziland, Zimbabwe and Botswana.
It was a serious challenge to make the 70-km long access channel future-proof within a 10-month period. In addition to the trailing suction hopper dredger De Lapérouse, Jan De Nul Group deployed two other vessels for this job. The suction cutter JFJ De Nul dredged the harder material.
Between May 2016 and January 2017, we deepened the access channel from 11 to 14 metres, representing a dredged volume of 14 million m³, completing several months before the deadline. This enabled the harbour to receive larger vessels, up to 80,000 tonnes, and increase traffic considerably, ahead of the deadline.
