Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announces the acquisition of maritime emergency response specialist Ardent Americas LLC (Ardent Americas). Ardent Americas is a leading player under the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA90) for the provision of marine emergency response services in the United States (US), the company said in its release.
Under the OPA90 program there is a statutory requirement from the United States Coast Guard that shipowners trading in US waters must have an agreement in place with approved emergency response companies for the provision of salvage and marine firefighting services. Ardent Americas OPA90 program covers approximately 500 shipowners encompassing over 4,000 vessels.
Ardent Americas was established in 2015 following the merger of Svitzer Salvage and Titan Salvage, operates from Houston and Fort Lauderdale in the US and was a subsidiary of Ardent Global Marine Services, headquartered in IJmuiden, the Netherlands.
Through this acquisition Boskalis further strengthens its existing position in the US maritime salvage market. Boskalis currently provides OPA90 services in the US with Donjon-Smit through its subsidiary SMIT Salvage and its joint venture partner Donjon Marine. With over 175 years of experience, SMIT Salvage is synonymous with total commitment to the challenging field of marine emergency response and wreck removal, especially when optimal care for the environment is a priority.
Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. 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 has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (Keppel Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 700 vessels and floating equipment and 9,600 employees, including associates, Boskalis is creating new horizons around the world.