Digging with Caution
To ensure that our ports are always easy to reach, we perform this task responsibly.
Dredging in the coastal area of the North Sea is an interference with nature. But it cannot be done without. To ensure that our ports are always easy to reach, we perform this task responsibly. We keep an eye on the region and nature.
We have set up an extensive dredging management system for our seven island and supply ports in the immediate vicinity of the Wadden Sea UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site. They are not only of central importance for tourism, some of them also fulfil important tasks as service and supply ports in the offshore sector.
Sustainable Dredging is Possible
The five success factors for keeping our ports at depth are obvious.
1. Avoid
The most sustainable measure to protect flora and fauna means only dredging when absolutely necessary.
2. Decreasing
To this end, we take appropriate measures to minimise the impact of unavoidable dredging operations. Decisive factors are, for example, careful methods of moving dredged material, consideration of natural sediment dynamics and ecologically sensible time windows.
3. Documentation and Monitoring
Detailed documentation provides insights into the effects of the dredging work and enables forward-looking control.
4. Dialogue and Cooperation
Transparency forms the basis for an active dialogue with all those involved.
5. Development
In exchange with specialists, we integrate innovative technologies and processes that promote careful dredging.
Long-term Data on the Wadden Sea Habitat
Through our dredging monitoring we collect important data with which we document the condition and changes around the areas of dredging work. In this way, we also obtain data on any pollutant loads in the water and in the dredged material. With our morphological investigations of all dumping sites, which we have been carrying out for more than 20 years, we measure the changes in soil depths. We can therefore say with certainty that the dumping of dredged material has not significantly altered the seabed. Our monitoring also includes the collection of biological data on flora and fauna in the Wadden Sea. Since 2000, we have been investigating the water and soil around the dredging sites and have been able to produce valuable biological mapping. We coordinate closely with the Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Park Administration on the method and parameters. Our investigations are valuable for the experts of the National Park Administration because they provide long-term knowledge about the Wadden Sea habitat.