The Land and Environmental Court has granted a permit to deepen and widen the fairway (from 13.5 to 17.5 m), strengthen the quay, and dispose of dredge spoil in a designated sea location.

The Court, however, rejected an application for dispensation of contaminated material at sea.

"We're aware that the ruling can be appealed, which is a step in the process that we must await. But if the ruling is not appealed, our preliminary position is that we may now begin reinforcement work on the quays, even though it is not yet clear how we will dispose of the contaminated dredge spoil," Jan Andersson, the Port of Gothenburg's Project Manager for Skandia Gateway, commented.

The Swedish seaport will carry out quay reinforcement and deepening of the dock. The Swedish Maritime Administration will deepen the fairway and remove dredge spoil (some 13m m3 will be dredged).

If all goes as planned, with construction works kicking off by 2022-end, the Port of Gothenburg's Skandia Harbour will be able to welcome fully laden ocean-going 430 by 65 m and 17.5 m of draught vessels by 2026 at the earliest.

The Skandia Gateway project is worth around SEK2.5b (€230m), with funding split in half between the Swedish Transport Administration and the Gothenburg Municipality.

Photo: Port of Gothenburg