Dredging New Suez Canal - A truly unmatched performance

The project was a challenge because of its size but above all because of the very tight deadline. To complete such a project in less than twelve months is unprecedented.
The Suez Canal is the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
To enlarge the transit capacity and to increase industrial activity in the area, a new Suez Canal will be constructed next to the existing one. It will have a depth of 24 m, a width of 240 m, and will be one third in length of the current Canal.
For this project, Jan De Nul Group mobilised seven cutter suction dredgers, namely J.F.J. De Nul, Hondius, Kaerius, Fernão de Magalhães, Ibn Battuta, Leonardo da Vinci and Zheng He. The cutter suction dredgers have a total installed diesel power of 134,720 KW.
We had the larger share of the dredging works. This is only logical as thanks to our major investments over the past ten years, we now have the biggest and most powerful cutter fleet in the world. As the soil mainly consists of compacted sand, alternated at some places by rigid clay, this was just the type of vessel that was required for the job.