IHC Merwede is pleased to announce that it has recently secured assignments for vessels and equipment in its core markets of dredging and offshore to the value of €500 million. This further reinforces the group’s belief that there will be continued demand for its innovative vessels, advanced equipment and life-cycle support.

The latest projects agreed and confirmed by IHC Merwede include a second self-propelled cutter suction dredger for marine contractor Van Oord. Measuring 130 metres in length and with an installed capacity of 24,650kW, this vessel will become one of the most modern and powerful self-propelled cutter suction dredgers in the world.

In addition, the company has sold a self-elevating platform for placing wind turbines to GeoSea NV, the offshore arm of the Belgian DEME Group. It has also sold various larger IHC Beaver® cutter suction dredgers to customers worldwide.

Furthermore, Mundra Port and Special Economic Zone Ltd., part of the Adani Group Mundra in India, has ordered a 13,000kW stationary cutter suction dredger. An IHC Beaver® 5514 C will be built for operation in Iraq, in addition to a 3,500m³ trailing suction hopper dredger and a 500m³ grab hopper. An IHC Beaver® 40 will also be deployed in Nigeria.

Various IHC Merwede business units have acquired assignments for specialised equipment, too, including a pipelay system for the American offshore contractor, J Ray McDermott. And the IHC Merwede life-cycle support programme, which enables customers to maximise the performance of their vessels and equipment, is proving successful in the market given the number of secured contracts.

IHC Merwede’s President Govert Hamers says, “These recent valuable projects are again in line with our outlook for 2010. Our order intake for this year is as planned and well above one billion Euros. The market in which we operate is showing clear signs of recovery. Our sales in the dredging segment worldwide are particularly strong, and the offshore market is clearly growing too.

“Sales of IHC Merwede equipment have been extremely satisfactory for some time and next year, we have high expectations for sales of new vessels. In addition, the mining market is becoming increasingly important – both dredge mining and deep-sea mining will be significant for future revenue. Our life-cycle support activities will also be developed further, in which we are already very successful, as the signing of several after-sales contracts shows.

“These recent successes show that IHC Merwede’s reputation as the technology innovator is as strong as ever. Our turnover will again exceed one billion Euros in 2010, and we have a strong work occupancy for the coming years. Our flexibility allows us to take on even more work during that period. The expectation for 2011 will be an increase of at least five per cent.”

Besides the acquisition of these latest orders, IHC Merwede celebrated a special milestone this month. Almost simultaneously at the Kinderdijk shipyard in The Netherlands and at a partner shipyard in Qidong, China, the keel was laid for two identical 12,000m³ trailing suction hopper dredgers, built by order of the Yangtze Estuary Waterway Administration Bureau MOT. This important occasion highlighted IHC Merwede’s ongoing strategy of further internationalisation. Both vessels will be used for maintenance and deepening of the Yangtze River in China.

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