Belgian firm, Jan De Nul, won the bid to undertake dredging works in the expansion project of Port Victoria in Seychelles.
The ongoing port expansion and rehabilitation project at Port Victoria have two major components – the construction of a quay wall and cargo terminal, and the dredging of the harbour to accommodate vessels with drafts up to 14 metres.
For the extension project, the SPA received $41 million – namely $35 million from the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) and the European Investment Bank (EIB). The European Union (EU) has also provided a grant of around $6 million.
In the initial project, the port was expected to be extended to 40 metres, a venture the the Seychelles Ports Authority (SPA) said is too expensive. SPA has stated that additional negotiations will be done for the costing and, if possible, reduce the scoping size.
In the revision of the project announced last year, the current quay will be extended by 10 metres out to sea towards the man-made island of Ile de Romainville. The channel and turning basin will be dredged to 16 metres and 15.5 metres respectively, allowing larger vessels to come into port.
Speaking on the development SPA Chief Executive, Mr Sonny Payet said: “we have looked for the best bidder and we are already talking about 10 million and it is for this that we are going to negotiate with the company to see if we can reduce our scope for the dredging so that we can have a lower cost.”
Jan De Nul specializes in the construction and maintenance of maritime infrastructure – with its main focus being dredging work.
The company has previously worked in Seychelles with projects on Praslin and La Digue with the SPA.
Source: Seychelles News Agency
