Addu City, Maldives – Van Oord today stated that trailing suction hopper dredger (TSHD) HAM 318 will be deployed for the Addu land reclamation project.
The dredger will source sand from two designated areas in the lagoon to reclaim 194 hectares of new land including coastal additions to Maradhoo, Maradhoo Feydhoo and Hithadhoo and three new islands in the lagoon.
The project expected to complete within 18 months has been warned against by multiple environmentalists.
The project, which is funded via a USD 800 million line of credit extended by the India’s EXIM Bank and approved by the Indian government, is expected to be completed within 18 months, which includes coastal protection measures as well as land reclamation, according to the government.
Reports suggest that an estimated 6,916,573cbm of sand will be dredged inside the atoll lagoon and the dredging site covers 42 percent of the lagoon. Transparency Maldives released a statement saying that the projected value in damages to the environment due to the Addu reclamation project is USD 858,343 million.
The reclamation project is being carried out under the line of credit provided by EXIM Bank of India.
