The Port of Rotterdam Authority and PUMA signed the contract for the construction of the site of the Offshore Center, the port’s press release says.
PUMA (Projectorganisatie Uitbreiding Maasvlakte, Project Organisation Expansion Maasvlakte) is a joint venture of the two Dutch hydraulic engineering firms Royal Boskalis Westminster NV and Van Oord NV for the construction of the first phase of Maasvlakte 2. The Offshore Center will be realised at Prinses Alexiahaven along Maasvlakte 2’s inland basin. The newly signed contract concerns an additional assignment that ensues from this project.
PUMA will officially start rainbowing on the site, with a planned surface area of 70 ha, on 1 August. The total of some 7 million m³ of sand required for this undertaking will be extracted from offshore sites and port basins. Over the past few years, the Port Authority has already transferred sand to Prinses Alexiahaven that had become available during projects like the construction of the Sif Group terminal and the LNG Breakbulk terminal.
If everything goes as planned, the entire port site will be rainbowed on by late 2017. Work on the construction of the quay walls can subsequently start in mid-2018. The first companies are expected to set up at the Offshore Center within two years.
The port of Rotterdam is creating room for a new Offshore Center for activities in the areas of offshore wind power, decommissioning and the oil & gas sector. The establishment of Europe’s first Offshore Centre is in line with the Port Authority’s policy to further develop Rotterdam’s already highly developed cluster of companies active in the offshore and maritime sectors.