DEME

DEME was established as a holding company of two Belgian dredging contractors: Dredging International and Baggerwerken Decloedt. Two industrial and financial Groups currently control the share capital: Ackermans & van Haaren, a publicly listed Antwerp-based industrial investment Group; and CFE, a publicly listed civil contractor controlled by the French Vinci-Group.

Baggerwerken Decloedt has been active in maintenance and capital dredging along the Belgian coast since 1875. Dredging International in itself is a merger of two dredging companies in September 1974: Ackermans & van Haaren, and Société Générale de Dragage (SGD). Ackermans & van Haaren was established in 1852, Société Générale de Dragage was incorporated in 1930. Both companies, Baggerwerken Decloedt and Dredging International have been involved in the construction of the main Belgian ports and the deepening and maintenance of their navigation channels in the North Sea and the river Scheldt. Since their early beginnings they have operated on a worldwide basis, on all continents simultaneously.

In 2009 DEME had a fleet of almost 300 vessels, including over 80 main dredging and hydraulic engineering vessels. At the end of 2009 DEME owned and operated 25 trailing suction hopper dredgers (TSHDs) such as the Jade River, with a capacity from 1,635 to 30,000 m3. They also owned the 24,130 m3 Pearl River which was the first megatrailer in the world when she was commissioned in 1994. The group owned and operated 20 cutter suction dredgers (CSDs), with installed power between 441 kW and 28,200 kW. The CSD fleet includes the world's heaviest self-propelled and ocean-going rock breaker, the 28,200 kW d'Artagnan. D'Artagnan was built for DEME's French subsidiary Société de Dragage International (SDI) and launched in 2005.

Other ships include backhoe dredgers (e.g. the 2,600 kW Pinocchio); lifting vessels (e.g. the 3,300 tons Rambiz); self-elevating drilling platforms (e.g. the 1,600 tons Goliath); fallpipe vessels (e.g. the 19,000 tons Flintstone); and auxiliary equipment. In 2010 DEME appointed Wilhelmsen Ships Service as their supplier for maintenance products and technical gases globally.