Case Study: Dutch Marine Ingenuity
Read this chapter to learn about a family-owned dredging and marine engineering business that has managed to survive and prosper over 150 years due to entrepreneurial ingenuity and continued commitment to its people and environmental sustainability. It takes you through the company's evolution and the challenges of being profitable and responsible while aiming to achieve four SDGs.
As a marine dredging and engineering company, what challenges does Van Oord face in attempting to be profitable and protect the environment? How does the company leadership and culture inspire entrepreneurial ingenuity?
Breakthrough
Van Oord's dredging breakthrough came with the widening and deepening of the Terneuzen Canal in 1963. The project seemed too big for the firm but it would last long enough for Van Oord to build a new ship during its execution. The family took the risk and Van Oord won the contract with the lowest tender bid. It was three times the size of any project Van Oord had hitherto won, and it provided the impetus to order a new cutter suction dredger, the Utrecht, which was built at the Verolme yard in Heusden. In 1964, the firm was awarded a large contract by the Ministry of Public Works for the construction of the connecting roads on the south side of the Benelux Tunnel in Pernis. Again, it meant investment in new vessels - a dredger and four large barges - further increasing the size of the company's fleet. By 2017, Van Oord had amassed a fleet of more than 100 vessels for its dredging, offshore oil and gas, and offshore wind activities.