Papendrecht, 02 July 2026
Boskalis and Van Oord have been awarded a large dredging contract as part of the Malmporten Project in the Port of Luleå, Sweden. The contract was awarded by the Swedish Maritime Administration and the Port of Luleå and has a total value of approximately EUR 500 million, split equally between Boskalis and Van Oord.
Luleå, capital of the northern province of Norrbotten, is undergoing a significant green industrial development driven by investments in fossil-free steel and sustainable energy. The ongoing transformation of the Port of Luleå will strengthen its role as a key regional logistics hub supporting this transition.
Under the contract, the joint venture will deepen the port’s fairway and harbor basin, allowing it to accommodate vessels with a draft of up to 14.7 meters and a cargo capacity of up to 85,000 tons. This marks a significant increase of nearly two times the current capacity of 45,000 tons. This expansion will improve operational efficiency and contribute to lower emissions per ton of transported cargo.
Project execution is scheduled to commence in the spring of 2027. Activities will take place during the ice-free seasons and will be completed before mid-August 2030. The works involve dredging approximately 14 million cubic meters of material, including sand, silt, clay, moraine soils, boulders and significant quantities of fresh rock. Part of the dredged material will be reused for land reclamation to enable the development of a new deepwater port area.
A broad range of specialized equipment will be deployed, including trailing suction hopper dredgers, backhoe dredgers, grab dredgers, and drill & blast platforms. Environmental protection is a key focus of the project. Mitigation measures will include the use of silt screens, bubble curtains, environmental buckets, turbidity monitoring and innovative dredging techniques to minimize environmental impact.
Boskalis and Van Oord are familiar with the project area, having carried out preparatory dredging works in Luleå in 2024. These earlier activities involved the removal of approximately 1.5 million cubic meters of sediment, hard moraine soils, and large boulders typical of the northern Gulf of Bothnia.
Boskalis’ strategy is aimed at leveraging key macro-economic factors that drive worldwide demand in our markets: the expansion of the global economy, increasing energy consumption, global population growth, and the challenges associated with climate change. This project is driven by the trend toward larger vessels with deeper drafts and supports both the growing demand for raw material exports from northern Sweden and Finland, the transition to sustainable steel production and the demand for renewable fuels.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Martijn L.D. Schuttevâer
T +31 786969310
Boskalis is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world. With core activities such as coastal defense, riverbank protection and land reclamation Boskalis is able to provide adaptive and mitigating solutions to combat the effects of climate change, such as extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels, as well as delivering solutions for the increasing need for space in coastal and delta regions across the world. The company facilitates the development of offshore energy infrastructure, including renewable wind energy. Boskalis is furthermore active in the construction and maintenance of ports, waterways, access channels and civil infrastructure, thus helping to facilitate trade flows and regional socio-economic development. In addition, Boskalis is a global marine salvage expert and provides terminal services at various locations worldwide. With a versatile fleet of more than 400 vessels and floating equipment and over 11,000 employees, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.
This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.
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