The Ministry of Public Works yesterday signed a contract valued some $1.38 billion with a Dutch company for the removal of 17 wrecks, some of them from since the mid-1900s.
The Ministry through the Maritime Administration Department (MARAD) said in a release that the contract was awarded to Koole BV of the Netherlands, an international industrial and maritime service and solution provider. The Dutch company specialises in industrial demolition, remediation, wreck removal, and marine construction.
At the signing ceremony, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill, emphasised that the project is extremely important. “The country is advancing and it is therefore necessary for us to make our waterways safer for ships by removing these 17 wrecks quickly and efficiently.”