Royal Boskalis Westminster (Boskalis) has secured a contract to widen the Port Adelaide Outer Harbor shipping channel in Australia.

The €40m contract was awarded by port owner and operator Flinders Ports.

Under the contract, Boskalis will widen the shipping channel from the existing 130m to 170m. It will also extend the turning basin to enable the port to accommodate larger Post Panamax container ships used for cargo transportation.

The expanded channel will help larger cruise ships to dock at the port, supporting the tourism industry.

As part of the process, around 1.5 million cubic metres of sand and clay material is estimated to be removed with a trailing suction hopper dredger and a large backhoe dredger.

Dredged material will be disposed of in a designated area 30km offshore, utilising adaptive environmental management techniques adhering to the maximum permissible turbidity levels at the region.

“The expanded channel will help larger cruise ships to dock at the port, supporting the tourism industry.”

Flinders Ports and Boskalis have committed to keeping the environmental impact of the channel widening programme to a minimum in line with the Environment Protection Authority dredging licence.

The dredging project will be carried out in the second half of this year.

Headquartered in the Netherlands, Boskalis operates across dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. It operates a fleet of more than 900 vessels and floating equipment.

Earlier this month, the company and Kotug International signed a letter of intent (LoI) to divest Kotug Smit Towage to Boluda Group (Boluda).

The total enterprise value of Kotug Smit Towage is €300m.