This edition of SWZ|Maritime with its dredging focus, largely curated by editor Bas Lenferink, tells a story of innovation, ambition and a sector quietly reinventing itself under the pressure of tightening regulation, ecological awareness and smarter resource use.
There is the Cygnus 500, built by DE Klop and now deployed by Dekker Group on the Waal River, as a case in point. Fully electric, modular and demountable, it eliminates hydraulic systems entirely and operates with zero onboard emissions when connected to shore power. This is not a concept vessel – it is already at work on a project directly tied to the 2027 Water Framework Directive deadline. Zero-emission dredging is becoming a commercial reality, proving itself not just on environmental metrics, but on operational ones: lower maintenance costs, reduced noise and greater flexibility in energy sourcing.
The dredging process is being reimagined too, as SWZ|Maritime took to three TU Delft members of MUDNET for a talk on developments in port maintenance dredging. Sending in hopper dredgers when needed and keeping the port basin at nautical depth is giving way to something far more sophisticated, illustrating what smarter, more targeted intervention can look like. And it is not just for the (cost) benefit of the port authority.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s March 2026 issue: Imagine
Reusable materials
Perhaps most striking is the shift in how the industry regards the material it handles. Amsterdam-based start-up Blauwe Bagger is challenging the assumption that dredged sediment is a liability, extracting reusable sand, clay and gravel on location using a purpose-built washing container. The dredge spoil of today could be the building material of tomorrow.
Accountability is sharpening too. Covered in the CEDA News section, the MEsP project is building a scientific framework that allows offshore and dredging companies to quantify their impact on marine ecosystems – and to demonstrate measurable progress, not just regulatory compliance.
All of this will be on the table when the dredging community gathers at Dredging Days 2026 in Antwerp this May. Fittingly, the event itself has been reimagined: less lecture theatre, more open dialogue – engineers, contractors, researchers and clients in the same room, working through the sector’s real challenges together. Dredging is not merely enduring the green transition. It is helping to shape it.
This is editor-in-chief Robin Zander’s editorial accompanying the April 2026 issue.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s February 2026 issue: Designing the digital maritime future
SWZ app and archive
Our digital archive is available to subscribers both online and in our new app (available for Android and Iphone) and they can read the digitial version of our April issue there. Not yet a subscriber? Visit our subscription page.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s January 2026 issue: Know how
The articles in SWZ|Maritime’s April issue
In addition to the regular sections such as Dutch news, Global news, Markets, book reviews, KNVTS news and Mars Report, the April issue features a special on digitalisation as well as other articles. They are:
- Young talent: Maarten Adams, Sinteg Systems
- CSD Cygnus 500 – Rotterdam 26
- European WFD exemption offers perspective
- Dredged materials as a starting point
- Finding a balance
- Towline care and ship, port and tug crew safety – Part 1
- Blue Amsterdam
- CEDA – Measuring dredging’s impact on marine ecosystems
- CEDA – Dredging Days 2026
Picture: Dredging supports global trade, protects countries from flooding, coasts from eroding and plays an important role in the energy transition. The industry is also working hard to reduce its environmental footprint (photo Flying Focus, SWZ|Maritime’s April 2026 cover picture).
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s December 2025 issue: Resolutions & fuel for thought
