Dutch company awarded contract for Kaoshiung port reclamation

Want China Times, CNA 2015-08-17

A dock at the Kaoshiung Intercontinental Container Center, Oct. 1,
2014. (File photo/Yen Jui-tien)

Dutch contractor Van Oord has been awarded the dredging contract for Kaoshiung Intercontinental Container Center Phase II, valued at approximately €130 million (US$144 million).

Van Oord has already started preparations for the new Kaohsiung terminal, which is scheduled to be completed by January 2018 and will involve the dredging and reclamation of 37 million cubic meters of sand for the extension of Kaohsiung Port, the company said in a statement on Aug. 13.

The Rotterdam-based company will employ one of its largest trailing suction hopper dredgers in Kaohsiung, the largest port in Taiwan which plays an important role in the nation's export-oriented economy.

Kaohsiung Intercontinental Container Center Phase II is a large land reclamation project being undertaken by Taiwan International Ports Corp (TIPC), with the aim of building a container transshipment hub.

The project site is located at Kaohsiung Port's second entrance in the southern offshore water area, with 422.5 hectares of reclaimed land and 19 deep-water piers, according to TIPC's website.

The project is scheduled to run from 2011 to 2019, with a total development budget of NT$150.6 billion (US$4.04 billion), NT$34.45 billion (US$1 billion) being contributed by the government and NT$116.15 billion (US$3.5 billion) by the private sector.