Van Oord, a Dutch dredging company, has won the Maryport’s harbor dredging contract.
Pauline Gorley, chief executive of the Maryport Harbor and Marina Authority , said that Van Oord will be on site from February 4 for four to six weeks to dredge the Elizabeth and Senhouse docks.
John McAvoy, fishing co-operative chairman , said that in recent times even boats leaving at high water had had trouble negotiating the silted harbor.
“ The harbor used to be dredged every five years but it is more than that since Elizabeth Dock was dredged. The situation was really becoming critical,” he said.
“Boats were having real difficulty. This will make life better for them and may even attract other boats into the harbor.”
Van Oord is a specialist in water injection dredging and it will be the first time it has been used in Maryport.
Mrs Gorley added that the dredging program would also benefit the fishing industry’s larger boats as they will be able to access the landing quay during neap tides as well as spring tides.
Senhouse Dock was dredged six years ago but the authority announced at that time that it had no money to dredge Elizabeth Dock.
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