Closed Dutch yard could be reopened

The former shipbuilding yard at Krimpen a/d Ijssel near Rotterdam, Holland, which was closed three years ago when Van der Giessen-De Noord went into receivership, could be reactivated to provide much needed newbuilding capacity. This has been brought about by the current boom in Holland for newbuilding orders and one shipbuilder in particular, IHC Holland, is considering this option as sales of new dredgers gathers pace.

After many lean years, IHC?s shipyard in Kinderdijk is currently fully boked until 2008 and, if many more orders are secured, the shipbuilder will need to expand its output. The main stumbling block, however, will be the scarcity of skilled shipyard workers plus the fact that few young people are nowadays attracted to this type of work.