Everyone signs the jointly formulated objectives and communication is a lot smoother. Louw Dekker, Project Manager on the Harbor Channel Dredging Project in Sydney (Canada): “Everyone is more involved in the entire project, instead of being focused only on their own part of the project. One of our NINA objectives is to conduct a weekly inspection tour on the entire project with a multidisciplinary ‘zero accidents team’ consisting of people representing the client, the subcontractors and ourselves. That really helps to improve the cooperation.”

The project in Canada consists of the dredging of an access channel for a new part of the container terminal. The Oranje will dredge up four million m3 of soil and deposit it in the reclamation area in the space of just over three months. Boskalis is working on this project together with a number of different subcontractors, including a company supplying the land reclamation plant and another one that will remove any obstructions (e.g. wrecks) in the area, divers, a quarrying company to supply the rocks and another company to put them in place. The contract is with the Sydney Ports Corporation and an engineering firm. Louw Dekker: “I invited all of them to the NINA start-up meeting or a follow-up session. The client was extremely enthusiastic and I’ve had positive reactions from the subcontractors as well. It’s great to have everyone involved from the start because that creates a solid level of support and commitment.”

Spotlight on the Catch & Release Program
The area in Sydney where the site is located is a breeding ground for lobsters and crabs. The Canadian Government has made funding available to relocate the animals. Forty local fishermen have been hired to work with the Oranje on the relocation project and good communication will obviously be crucial. The Sydney Ports Corporation is so enthusiastic about NINA that they have asked Boskalis to arrange NINA Do-it training specially for these fishermen.