en.Wedoany.com Reported - Boskalis and Van Oord have been awarded the dredging contract for the Malmporten project at the Port of Luleå, Sweden. The contract was awarded by the Swedish Maritime Administration and the City of Luleå, and will be shared equally between the two companies.
Luleå, the capital of the northern Norrbotten County, is undergoing a significant green industrial transformation, driven by investments in fossil-free steel and sustainable energy. The ongoing redevelopment of the port area will strengthen its role as a key regional logistics hub supporting this transition.
Under the contract, the joint venture will deepen the fairway and port basin to accommodate vessels with a draft of up to 14.7 meters and a cargo capacity of 85,000 tons. This is nearly double the current capacity of 45,000 tons. The expansion will improve operational efficiency and help reduce emissions per ton of cargo transported.
Project execution is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2027. The work will be carried out during the ice-free season and is expected to be completed by mid-August 2030. The scope includes dredging approximately 14 million cubic meters of material, including sand, silt, clay, moraine, gravel, and significant quantities of bedrock (roca fresca). Part of the dredged material will be reused for land reclamation, thereby developing new deep-water port areas.
A range of specialized equipment will be deployed, including trailing suction hopper dredgers, backhoe dredgers, grab dredgers, and drill-and-blast platforms. Environmental mitigation measures will include the use of silt curtains, bubble curtains, environmentally friendly grabs, turbidity monitoring, and innovative dredging techniques to minimize environmental impact.
Boskalis and Van Oord are familiar with the project area, having previously conducted dredging preparation work in Luleå in 2024. This preliminary work included the removal of approximately 1.5 million cubic meters of sediment, hard moraine, and large boulders typical of the northern Baltic Sea.
