EUROPEAN UNION PLEDGES FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR PROJECT TO IMPROVE ACCESS FOR SHIPPING IN DUNKIRK’S WESTERN HARBOUR

The European Union has decided to give €550,000 in funding for the
technical design studies of the project to improve access for shipping
in the Western Port of Dunkirk, in order to provide optimum conditions
for the berthing of the world’s largest container carriers and Capesize
ore carriers in the Port of Dunkirk.

Along with all the investments planned in the Western Port, this project of
Dunkerque-Port will contribute to the adaptation of harbour equipment to
developments in maritime transport, and in particular the increasing size
of container ships and bulk carriers. With the reconfiguration of the Flanders
Container Terminal and the creation of a wharf in the Western Bulk
Terminal, Dunkerque-Port will offer new capacities for handling maritime
freight: container handling capacity increased by 50% and new capacities
for transhipment of bulk cargoes.

The technical design studies will concern the adaptation of the access channel
to the Atlantic Dock and of the swing circle. The aim will be to produce
a precise definition of the area’s new bathymetry, the technical characteristics
of the new protective embankments, the scheduling of the works and
their cost. This technical design phase will culminate in the selection of the
contractor who will carry out the works.

The studies, which are estimated to cost 1.09M€, were selected in the 2013
annual TEN-T call, «Maritime Transport» priority, to receive European funding
of 50%. Their implementation will be monitored by the European
Commission’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA).

The technical design studies will be completed in June 2015. A public
consultation prior to authorisation under the Environment Code is planned
in June 2015.

The works to enlarge the swing circle and the access channel to the Atlantic
Dock will begin in the last quarter of 2015 and will last for six months.

The project’s technical features:

• Widening of access channel to 240m with a dredging level of -18 CMG1; 
• Enlargement of Atlantic Dock swing circle diameter to 650m with a
  dredging level of -18 CMG; 
• Creation of a new rockfill embankment to protect the Loon Dock; 
• Dredging of approximately 4.5 Mm3 of sediment. 

Some of the dredged sand will be recycled to protect the Port’s sea-facing
structures and to reinforce the coastline, and some will be temporarily stored
in predefined locations and used later in development works in the Port of
Dunkirk, while the sludge will be dumped at sea.

For the works phase, a request for co-funding in the framework of the European
Union’s TEN-T calls for projects was submitted to the European INEA
agency on 26 February 2015. The project is also included in the 2014-2020
State-Region Plan Contract.