Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a Dutch dredging and

heavylift In transportation, heavy lift refers to the handling and installation of heavy items which are indivisible, and of weights generally accepted to be over 100 tons and of widths/heights of more than 100 meters. These oversized items are transported ...

company that provides services relating to the construction and maintenance of

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...

infrastructure internationally. The company has one of the world's largest dredging fleets, a large stake in Smit International and owns

Dockwise Dockwise was a Netherlands-based holding company in the marine transport industry. It was acquired by Boskalis in 2013 and was merged into the Boskalis brand name in 2018. History Dockwise was formed in September 1993 by the merger of two compleme ...

, a large heavylift shipping company. As of 2020, Boskalis employs around 9,900 employees and 650 ships. They operate in over 75 countries in six continents.

History

Boskalis (''Bos & Kalis'') was founded as Johannes Kraaijeveld en van Noordenne in 1910 by Johannes Kraaijeveld and Eliza van Noordenne. In the thirties it was renamed NV Baggermaatschappij Bos & Kalis when Gerrit Jan Bos, Wilhelm Bos, Egbertus Dingeman Kalis and Kobus Kalis took over. In between the two wars, Boskalis contributed to the

Zuiderzee project The Zuiderzee Works ( nl, Zuiderzeewerken) is a man-made system of dams and dikes, land reclamation and water drainage work, in total the largest hydraulic engineering project undertaken by the Netherlands during the twentieth century. The proj ...

. The company inked a contract in 1931 for the dredging of

Bromborough Dock Bromborough Dock was situated on the River Mersey at Bromborough, on the Wirral Peninsula, England. Owned by the manufacturer Lever Brothers (and its successor Unilever), it served the company's factory at Port Sunlight. The facility was once t ...

. In 1933, Boskalis partnered with the Westminster Dredging Company (based in Fareham, England), which opened business opportunities with West Africa.

Listing, developments 1970 to 2000

Boskalis became a public company in 1970. Boskalis received the designation "Royal" in 1978. In the 1980s economic and political circumstances forced Boskalis to concentrate on its core dredging business.Bouwens en Sluyterman, Verdiept verleden (2010) p.323 More acquisitions followed in the 1990s as the company acquired a 40% interest in Archirodon Group. During this period Boskalis was also involved in several major land reclamation projects. In Hong Kong the company worked on the major land reclamation project for the new

Chek Lap Kok airport Hong Kong International Airport is Hong Kong's main airport, built on reclaimed land on the island of Chek Lap Kok, Hong Kong. The airport is also referred to as Chek Lap Kok International Airport or ''Chek Lap Kok Airport'', to distinguish ...

and in Singapore it cooperated on a multi-year development program.

Since 2000

In 2007 the company was engaged in two major contracts in Australia — a €300 million contract to deepen the shipping channels of

Port Phillip Port Phillip ( Kulin: ''Narm-Narm'') or Port Phillip Bay is a horsehead-shaped enclosed bay on the central coast of southern Victoria, Australia. The bay opens into the Bass Strait via a short, narrow channel known as The Rip, and is com ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, utilising its dredge the Queen of the Netherlands, and a €50 million contract to expand the harbour at

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

. The company is also involved in a €1.1 billion contract to develop a new port in Abu Dhabi.

Purchase of Smit and Dockwise

On 15 September 2008 Boskalis offered €1.11 billion for fellow Dutch maritime company Smit International. Despite the offer being promptly rejected by Smit's board, Boskalis subsequently built a stake of over 25% in the firm and expressed a continuing desire to buy a number of its business units. A revised offer of €1.35 billion was accepted by Smit in January 2010, with Boskalis declaring its offer unconditional that March. In 2011 Boskalis acquired MNO Vervat in The Netherlands. In 2013, Boskalis acquired

, a

heavy marine transport Heavy may refer to: Measures * Heavy (aeronautics), a term used by pilots and air traffic controllers to refer to aircraft capable of 300,000 lbs or more takeoff weight * Heavy, a characterization of objects with substantial weight * Heavy, ...

company.

Suez Canal blockage

Two Boskalis tugboats helped the eleven Egyptian tugs in the dredging and towing operation to free the 400-metre long ship ''

Ever Given ''Ever Given'' () is one of the largest container ships in the world. The ship is owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha (a ship-owning and leasing subsidiary of the large Japanese shipbuilding company Imabari Shipbuilding), and is time chartered and op ...

'', which ran aground in the Suez Canal on 23 March 2021, and got stuck diagonally and therefore blocked the Suez Canal from 23 till 29 March 2021 during which time the canal was impassable. A traffic jam of around 400 ships was the result of the blockage of the canal.

Controversies

Boskalis has been informally accused of bribing

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

politicians to obtain the contract to dredge the Canal Anglais.BOSKALIS: A Relative Of Siddick Chady Accused
, ''Mopays'', 23 June 2012

References

External links

* {{Authority control Companies based in South Holland Construction and civil engineering companies of the Netherlands Multinational companies headquartered in the Netherlands Dredging companies Dutch brands Papendrecht Companies listed on Euronext Amsterdam Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1910 Dutch companies established in 1910