 | Dredging & Port Construction
The Global Industry In Dredging and Port Construction's December 2007 issue, analyst Freek Tewes stated that the global dredging market was worth €12Bn+ and still booming. We've yet to come across a reliable figure for port construction projects, but it's certainly well above that.
It's almost a daily occurrence to hear of yet another enormous dredging campaign or port development – indeed, one contractor told me his firm's virtually given up publicising any contract under €50M!
It's why, during 2008 and continuing into 2009, DPC's expanded its coverage and grown in size: almost every issue runs to over 50 pages, some are over 60. And there're also the supplements, such as the International Dredging Directory and Cutting Edge.
Looking to the future, we'll be covering some of the most challenging and exciting maritime engineering projects in the world, including:
Maasvlakte II - the Port of Rotterdam's €3Bn expansion is also Europe's biggest dredging and reclamation campaign
Panama - the $5.25Bn Canal enlargement is not only one of the world's most challenging dredging projects
that will test contractors' skills to the full, but it will also have a major impact on ports on America's and Latin America's west coasts, many of which will have to dredge and expand if they're to remain competitive
The Middle East - the Central Dredging Association held its first conference in the region during 2008, staged in Doha, Qatar. And as I write, three further artifi cial island projects have been announced. Can Dubai resist yet another?
Asia - the transformation in the dredging and port construction markets over the past few years, especially in China and India, simply cannot be underestimated. Dredging technology has also transformed the market in the past few years, not least the one-man operated bridge, software that allows for pinpoint accuracy and hardware such as the ripper draghead that's beginning to make rock dredging with a trailing suction hopper dredger a reality. What will 2009 bring? Artificial intelligence perhaps? We'll be talking to the experts.
Sincerely,
Tony Slinn
Editor-in-Chief | |