Royal IHC and the Vietnamese shipyard Nam Trieu have signed an agreement for the construction of a trailing suction hopper dredger in Asia, with more possibly to follow. Right now, it involves the dredger with a hopper capacity of 2300 m3, that dredging company De Boer-Dutch Dredging ordered last month.
The construction in Vietnam marks the beginning of what is expected to be a long-term collaboration between Nam Trieu and Royal IHC to build vessels at an attractive price.
In March 2024, when Bert Jan ter Riet started at Royal IHC in his role of chief operations officer (COO), it was already announced that one of his tasks was to realise the build abroad strategy in addition to building in the Netherlands. Just last week, IHC also announced it would start building its Beavers at Vahali Shipyards in Serbia.
Also read: Royal IHC appoints new COO to rollout build abroad strategy
‘Our overseas yard’
Royal IHC aims to offer its customers a wider range of choices. This will further strengthen its competitive position in the global market. ‘The collaboration with Nam Trieu is the concretisation of our two-pillar strategy,’ says CEO Derk te Bokkel. ‘We build both in the Netherlands and in the Far East. In Vietnam we can build to the same quality level with lower labour and energy costs. And our yards in Krimpen and Kinderdijk allow us to build much more quickly. When we have discussions with large customers about projects, they should have a choice.’
‘Nam Trieu will basically be our overseas yard,’ continues Te Bokkel. ‘In the past, Royal IHC has also built ships at foreign shipyards, but each time it was at a different shipyard. Many times this has worked well, but this was not always the case. We want an experienced shipyard that knows exactly how we work and think.’
‘My experience is that a combination of a foreign construction site in a low-cost country with a technically qualified Dutch organisation at the base can work very well. This strengthens the Dutch organisation,’ says Te Bokkel.
Also read: Royal IHC to build Beaver dredgers at Vahali in Serbia
Nam Trieu
Nam Trieu employs 700 to 800 local workers. Royal IHC will supply materials and equipment from the Netherlands. A compact project team from the Netherlands will supervise the construction on site.
Picture: Nam Trieu shipyard in Vietnam (by Royal IHC).
