Project record

Harwich Haven five-year maintenance dredging

Participation
Awarded
Participation checked

HHA confirmed Suffolk Dredging LLP's five-year maintenance award in July; the March procurement family was withdrawn for a scope-description correction, with current value and exact commencement unconfirmed

Participation source

Harwich Haven Authority confirmed a five-year maintenance-dredging award to Suffolk Dredging LLP on 24 July 2026, alongside a Tiamat licence. The original March procurement family was withdrawn on 18 March for a correction to the scope description. Its GBP 100 million excluding-VAT estimate and planned April commencement belong to that withdrawn record; the July announcement gives no current price or exact contract dates.

Harwich Haven harbour channel, foreground mudflat and water with Port of Felixstowe container cranes beyond

Harwich Haven Authority; harbour and Felixstowe gateway context, not evidence of Suffolk Dredging mobilisation

Location

United Kingdom / Europe

Segment

Maintenance dredging, beneficial use and dredging technology

Phase

Award / Confirmed

Last checked

14 October 2026

Coverage

Related sectors

Maintenance dredging, beneficial use and dredging technology is the primary work classification. Related sectors connect this record to adjacent marine delivery and market coverage.

Subject index

Related subjects

These subject pages bring together related projects, technical articles, reports, and evidence methods.

Project anatomy

Contract scope and delivery roles

Client / authority
Harwich Haven Authority, statutory harbour authority and trust port
Procurement references
HHA/MD/2026; ocds-h6vhtk-066a3b; 023147-2026; 023171-2026; 024788-2026
Delivery parties
Suffolk Dredging LLP - owner-confirmed five-year maintenance-dredging supplier and Tiamat licensee, Boskalis Westminster - joint-venture partner identified by HHA, with contract-specific workshare undisclosed, Marine Dredging Services (UK) Ltd - current LLP designated member in Companies House, with package workshare undisclosed, Vessel operators, survey parties, beneficial-use delivery parties and other subcontractors - no campaign allocation established by the cited records
Contract route
Historical reference HHA/MD/2026, OCID ocds-h6vhtk-066a3b: UK5 023147-2026 and UK6 023171-2026 were published on 13 March with pending award status. HHA described an exempt utilities contract under paragraph 6 of Schedule 2 to the Procurement Act 2023 and projected at least 80% of the affiliated undertaking's turnover from HHA work for at least three years. UK12 024788-2026 withdrew that procurement family on 18 March for a scope-description correction. HHA subsequently confirmed the five-year maintenance award on 24 July. The exemption rationale is the buyer's historical statement; current signed terms have not been obtained.
Execution window
HHA's July announcement confirms a five-year maintenance contract without exact commencement, expiry or extension dates. The withdrawn March notice had scheduled signature and a base term from 17 April 2026 to 17 April 2031. Its text offered one or two 24-month extensions, while its machine-readable maximum date was 17 April 2033. Those unreconciled historical fields do not set the current contract end date.
Works package
Historical scope in the withdrawn March notice: clay and silt dredging in Harwich Harbour, Felixstowe deep and shallower berths, the western approach channel, Harwich Navyard, Trinity House, Harwich International Port and other Service Manager-directed areas; sand dredging at the eastern approach; Tiamat and other methods; coastal beneficial use; and early contractor involvement in beneficial-use and capital schemes. The July award announcement confirms maintenance dredging and a separate Tiamat licence. Final contract-specific area, quantity and package allocations remain unconfirmed.
Marine interfaces
A live deep-water gateway serving vessels up to 17 m draft, recurrent harbour and berth maintenance, mixed clay-silt-sand management, Tiamat agitation dredging, conventional hopper and plough methods, hydrographic control, licensed dispersive disposal, coastal beneficial use and coordination with Felixstowe, Harwich and Stour traffic. HHA's approximately two-month dredging rhythm and about 500,000 m3 per round are programme context, not a guaranteed contract quantity.
Commercial evidence boundary
The withdrawn March notices estimated GBP 100 million excluding VAT and GBP 120 million including VAT. Current contract price, committed spend, supplier workshare and extension options remain undisclosed in the cited July announcement. HHA's historical 30% cost-reduction objective and earlier Tiamat cost and emissions claims are programme rationale, with actual savings under this contract unconfirmed.

Project timeline

Material developments

Dated events that changed scope, counterparties, delivery, commissioning or operating status.

Open this project in the Change Log

HHA confirmed the five-year maintenance award

The owner reported the award to Suffolk Dredging LLP and a separate Tiamat licence. Current contract value, exact dates and campaign-specific vessel allocations were not disclosed.

Source

Registered office moved from Fareham to Harwich

Companies House records the office change to Harbour House, The Quay, Harwich. The filing date is separate from HHA's effective 29 April member appointment and control notification.

Source

HHA joined Suffolk Dredging LLP and became a person with significant control

Companies House filings establish the current corporate-control step after the scheduled contract date, but do not by themselves prove that the maintenance-dredging contract was signed or that field work transferred to the LLP.

Source

Original procurement family withdrawn for scope correction

UK12 withdrew the March procurement family for a scope-description correction. Its pending award and estimated terms remain historical; HHA later confirmed the maintenance contract in July.

Source

Historical GBP 100m notice named the proposed supplier

The original notices named Suffolk Dredging LLP with pending status and described the estimated value, planned term, renewal language, Tiamat, conventional dredging, beneficial use and early contractor involvement.

Source

HHA launched the 76.5-hectare Copperas Bay BUDS project

The owner named Boskalis Westminster for sediment pumping and Amicus Civil Engineering for temporary bunds and coir rolls under the predecessor operating context. That project is relevant beneficial-use evidence but not proof of Suffolk Dredging performance.

Source

Suffolk Dredging LLP was incorporated

Companies House records the LLP's formation at a Boskalis-linked Fareham address before HHA entered as a designated member in April 2026.

Source

Evidence gap

What remains unverified

Outstanding evidence

  • Current signed terms, contract value and effective commencement
  • Current extension provisions; March maximum-date and renewal inconsistency retained as history
  • Named Tiamat unit, workboat, hopper dredger, plough, survey vessel and campaign operator
  • Allocation of 2026 notices-to-mariners fleet activity to Suffolk Dredging LLP, Boskalis or another contractor
  • Clay, silt and sand quantities by harbour, berth and approach-channel area
  • Inner Gabbard disposal, coastal beneficial-use sites and campaign-specific permit conditions
  • Early-contractor-involvement outputs for beneficial-use schemes and capital projects
  • Baseline and completion hydrography, charted-depth acceptance, environmental monitoring and annual spend
  • Suffolk Dredging member structure, subcontractors and any vessel or technology ownership arrangements

Related records 5

Reporting status

Project phase
Award
Evidence confidence
Confirmed
Last checked
14 October 2026
Cited sources
15

Sources and related records

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Source collections

Project sources 15