Queen Máxima Christens Dredger

Her Majesty Queen Máxima performed the christening ceremony for Van Oord's trailing suction hopper dredger Vox Amalia in Rotterdam this afternoon in presence of 1,400 employees and guests. 

This was also the final event in the celebrations marking Van Oord's 150th anniversary in 2018.

The vessel was moored along Wilhelminakade next to the Cruise Terminal in Rotterdam for this special event. After the christening ceremony, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra and the Dutch DJ duo Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano gave a spectacular musical performance. Her Majesty Queen Máxima toured the Vox Amalia and met its crew. She also spoke to the engineers who supervised the vessel’s construction and to a group of youngsters representing Generation Z, the offspring of employees and shareholders, who shared their ideas about a sustainable future.

The Vox Amalia trailing suction hopper dredger has large, powerful pumps and engines that enable it to dredge sand, clay, sludge and even gravel from sea or river beds. It measures 158 meters long, 36 meters wide and has a hopper capacity of 18,000 cubic meters, and it was built in Spain under Van Oord’s supervision.