The Port of Gothenburg, in Sweden, has completed the reinforcement work on the southern dock of its container terminal, one of the actions included in the Skandia Gateway project to adapt its infrastructure to the arrival of larger container ships. The works, carried out by the construction company NCC for more than two years, have been completed within the established schedule and budget, allowing for the start of the next phase, corresponding to the blasting and dredging work on the bottoms near the dock.
The intervention has been developed since the spring of 2024 over the 700 meters located at the western end of the southern dock of the terminal. The reinforcement of this structure constitutes a prerequisite to increase the depth of the berthing area and allow larger draft vessels to operate, as part of the planned adaptation of the port facilities for the end of 2028 and the beginning of 2029.
The completion of this phase paves the way for dredging and blasting work to be executed by Boskalis Sweden, which is scheduled to begin this Tuesday, October 13. This action, under the responsibility of the Port of Gothenburg, will include a strip of 50 meters in width next to the 700 meters of the western section of the southern dock.
The operations include the removal of more than 200,000 cubic meters of soft sediments and approximately 30,000 cubic meters of rock. The goal is to prepare the bottoms located next to the terminal to allow the berthing of container ships with a maximum draft of 17.5 meters. According to the project schedule, this work must be completed by March 2027.
The person responsible for the reinforcement work on the dock within Skandia Gateway, Elin Dörrheide, explained that the conclusion of this intervention allows for maintaining the planned schedule for the following actions. The representative of the Port of Gothenburg noted that this is a project of considerable technical complexity, whose execution has required coordination among the different participating entities.
As work is being carried out in the vicinity of the dock, the Swedish Maritime Administration is processing the contracting of the dredging and blasting operations corresponding to the access channel and the area for ship turning. This part of the project will have a larger dimension than the intervention to be undertaken next to the terminal and will also include modifications to navigation aids.
The Swedish Maritime Administration plans to formalize the contract corresponding to these actions in early 2027. The start of work in the navigation channel and the maneuvering area is scheduled for August of that same year.
The Skandia Gateway project aims to adapt the infrastructure of the Port of Gothenburg to receive container ships up to 430 meters in length and 65 meters in width. These dimensions represent an increase of 30 meters in length and five meters in width compared to the largest ships currently calling at the terminal.
The modification of the depths will also allow vessels with drafts up to four meters deeper than the current ones. To achieve this, the project combines the adaptation of the dock with interventions on the bottoms of the access channel and the areas necessary for ship maneuvers.
The planning establishes different responsibilities between the Port of Gothenburg and the Swedish Maritime Administration. The port authority is responsible for the actions on the dock and its immediate waters, while the maritime administration develops the necessary procedures to adapt the maritime access and turning area to the new dimensions planned.
Both entities aim for the adapted navigation channel and dock to be operational before the end of 2028. This schedule would allow larger container ships to begin using the facilities between the end of that year and the beginning of 2029.
The expansion of maritime access capabilities is part of the planning of the Port of Gothenburg to meet the needs of international container transport. The project is focused on allowing larger ships to call and facilitating direct connections of goods between Sweden and international markets.
The port authority places this action in a context in which several of the main European container ports have limitations related to the depth of their accesses and the capacity available in their facilities.
As Dörrheide has pointed out, the adaptation of the infrastructure is designed to meet the needs of maritime traffic over the coming decades. The project manager has indicated that the completion of the dock reinforcement within the budget and established timelines allows for continuity with the following interventions according to the set schedule.
With the conclusion of the work carried out by NCC and the beginning of the operations in charge of Boskalis Sweden, the project enters the phase of preparing the bottoms near the terminal, while the contracting process for the actions corresponding to the access channel and the turning area continues.
