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Boskalis takes new mega cutter Helios into service

Press release
Papendrecht, 1 July 2017 Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) announces that the mega cutter Helios was named and christened during a festive ceremony in the port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The Helios is the largest and most powerful cutter suction dredger Boskalis has ever developed. The self-propelled Helios is 152 meters long and has a breadth of 28 meters and is able to dredge at depths of 6 to 35 meters. With a total installed power of almost 24,000 kW, a total pumping capacity of 15,600 kW and a maximum cutter power of 7,000 kW, the Helios is one of the most powerful cutter suction dredgers in the dredging industry. The vessel was developed to dredge in extremely hard ground. The cutter ladder weighs 2,060 tons, making it the heaviest in the world. The vessel can accommodate a crew of 45 and so the Helios can operate around the world in the most remote locations. The Helios will be deployed for dredging activities related to the development of the port of Duqm in Oman. A sister vessel of the Helios is expected to be taken into service in the course of 2020. Visit https://vimeo.com/boskalis/helios for a video about the construction of the Helios. Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors. The company provides creative and innovative all-round solutions to infrastructural challenges in the maritime, coastal and delta regions of the world with services including the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. In addition, Boskalis offers a wide variety of marine services and contracting for the oil and gas sector and offshore wind industry as well as salvage solutions (SMIT Salvage). Furthermore, Boskalis has a number of strategic partnerships in harbor towage and terminal services (KOTUG SMIT Towage, Keppel Smit Towage, Saam Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of more than 900 vessels and floating equipment and 11,700 employees, including associated companies, Boskalis operates in 90 countries across six continents. This press release can also be found on our website www.boskalis.com.

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