Jan De Nul Group has announced that it has signed a concession agreement with the Municipality of Guayaquil for the deepening and maintenance of the 95km-long access channel to the port of Guayaquil, located in Guayas Province, western Ecuador.

The contract was awarded on 5 October 2018 and the official signing ceremony took place on 5 December at the Municipality of Guayaquil.

Under the concession agreement, Jan De Nul Group will finance the capital dredging works to deepen the existing access channel guaranteeing a new authorized draught of 12.5 m, as well as to deepen the Guayas River to an authorized draught of 7.5 m.

Jan De Nul will also remove the rock in the offshore section of the channel, the famous bottleneck known as ‘Los Goles’. Meanwhile, a modern Vessel Traffic Service system and toll collection system also need to be installed.

For the dredging works, three modern medium-sized Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers and one large self-propelled Cutter Suction Dredger will be mobilized. For the capital dredging works, an estimated volume of 25 million m³ is to be dredged.

The capital dredging works in the maritime channel will be executed in less than 12 months. The dredging of the Guayas River will be completed within three years.

After the capital works are concluded, Jan De Nul Group will operate and maintain the channel under a 25-year performance based concession contract. The deepening and maintenance of the system will be financed by Jan De Nul Group and recuperated by tolls.