Bulgarian-Dutch tie-up starts Burgas port terminal expansion

Following a public tender, state-owned Bulgarian company Port Infrastructure signed the contract with the investor group, which comprises Van Oord Dredging & Marine Contractors and Varna-based company Cosmos Shipping, the transport ministry said in a press release earlier this month.

The works, scheduled to begin within days, have to be completed in 204 days. They will be divided in two stages - the first is to be finalised by the end of the year and is financed from the operational programme Transport and Transport Infrastructure. The second stage is set to be included in the Transport Connectivity Programme for the 2021-2027 period.

Increased depth at the Burgas - West terminal will allow the handling of ships with draft of up to 14.5 metres and internal volume of up to 80,000 gross registered tonnes, which will help expand port operations, the transport ministry said.

Rotterdam-based group Van Oord is a Dutch maritime contracting company specialised in dredging, land reclamation and constructing man-made islands. Last week, Van Oord announced it has won three new contracts, worth around 200 million euro in total, to reinforce a 6.7 km section of the Romanian coast against erosion from Black Sea waves.

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