Calabar access channel

Boosting Nigeria's trade by deepening the Calabar New Port access channel

Our client
Calabar, eastern Nigeria's main port, is situated 83 km up the Calabar River in the Niger Delta. Nestled in the far southeast of Nigeria, close to the frontier to Cameroon.

Calabar New Port, the area's seaport, has modern import and export facilities, including 860 m of quay and 35,000 m³ of stacking area. The port, which is owned by the Nigerian Ports Authority, is directly connected to the central and northeastern parts of the country via road.

Our work
To boost trade, the Nigerian Ports Authority wanted to enable vessels with a length of 170 m and a deadweight of between 10,000 and 15,000 tons to safely reach the port. It contracted

Van Oord to carry out the upstream dredging of the access channel to Calabar New Port. Two trailing suction hopper dredgers, Ostsee and Volvox Scaldia, were used to deepen the channel from -7 m to -10 m over a width of 150 m and a length of 46 km.

Our results
Van Oord deepened the access channel to the port, which is now able to handle larger vessels. Some 12,75 million m³ of spoil were dredged and carefully placed in allocated dumping areas.