Portsmouth prepares for harbour dredge ahead of Queen Elizabeth carriers

Work is underway to prepare for dredging at HMNB Portsmouth ahead of the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers. In June, the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) announced it had awarded a contract worth £31 million to Fareham based Boskalis Westminster Ltd for work to ready the harbour for the ships. While the dredging vessel is not due to start its activity until next month, a crane barge, known as Strekker has already begun removing debris from the dredge site which could cause an obstruction. The carriers will be significantly larger than any ships that currently use Portsmouth Harbour so Boskalis Westminster Ltd will dredge the approach channel, inner harbour area and berth pocket, making them deep and wide enough for the new ships. In total around three million cubic metres of clay, sand and gravel will be removed from the harbour by the trailing suction hopper and backhoe dredgers. The dredge will meet stringent environmental requirements set out in the marine licence and take into account the local marine and coastal environment, without impacting on the existing operations at HMNB Portsmouth.