
Netherlands based Van Oord, an independent family business, is a leading international contractor active in dredging and marine services for onshore and offshore infrastructure development. The Company is considered one of the four major dredging companies worldwide which has substantially invested in its fleet of dredging and marine contracting equipment over the last decade. Van Oord accumulated the necessary experience which enables it to execute the largest and most complex marine engineering projects. It is headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and employs around 4,600 people.
Van Oord reclaims land through high-tech dredging mainly for the creation of new harbours, waterways or deepening of existing maritime facilities. The Company’s dredging activities also apply to coastal defence and urban development projects such as tourist infrastructure, artificial island or offshore airport construction. The Offshore and Energy business of Van Oord comprises the installation of offshore wind parks and subsea oil and gas infrastructure.
As a leading global dredger and marine contractor, Van Oord’s fleet of equipment was substantially enlarged and modernised over the last decade. Foremost it includes trailing suction hopper dredgers, which are mostly used for dredging loose material from maintenance and land reclamation works, and cutter suction dredgers, which cuts hard soil into fragments and is mainly used in capital dredging works for the construction of ports and waterways. Other equipment includes backhoe dredgers, rock installation vessels, water injection dredgers and heavy-lift vessels.
Acting as the largest member of a consortium of investors, Cobepa acquired a 10.7% stake in Van Oord in December 2011. The consortium, which also includes the Dutch investment companies Janivo, Breedinvest and Rinkelberg, acquired its stake from Dutch construction company Royal BAM Group, which had been a shareholder in Van Oord since the merger of Van Oord ACZ and Ballast Ham Dredging in 2003.