Luleå's 14 million m³ award follows a failed tender and redesign

What changed

The Swedish Maritime Administration's March 2022 market dialogue published an early whole-program baseline of about 22 million m³ and an April 2024-December 2026 implementation concept. A June 2024 authority release then defined a separate roughly 1.5-million-m³ preparatory package; the July field update named Optimus, Kahamari 2 and Magnor, and the March 2026 status page says those works finished in October 2024. The same status page says the common main-works tender and deepwater-quay tender were stopped in February 2025 after bids exceeded budget, followed by fairway-design optimization and a two-stage retender from September. Port of Luleå's June 2026 award release uses September 2025 as the previous-procurement cancellation date, so the public record is not fully aligned. The owners signed the remaining-works contract on 2 July 2026. Port, authority, Boskalis and Van Oord sources define about 40 kilometres of fairway, roughly 14 million m³ of mixed soil and rock, a SEK 5.7 billion / approximately EUR 500 million value, ice-free-season execution from 2027 and completion by 15 August 2030. The published figures refer to different baselines: 22 million m³ for the old programme, 1.5 million m³ for the preparatory package and 14 million m³ for the current remaining-works contract.

Why it matters

The sequence changes the risk reading. The old 21-22-million-m³ whole-program baseline, the completed 1.5-million-m³ preparatory package and the current 14-million-m³ contract are different scope states. Suppliers and analysts need to track what was removed, completed, retendered or left in the separate deepwater-port and quay programme before comparing quantities, prices or progress.