Boskalis Annual Report 2020

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LESSONS LEARNED “To ensure continuity, we decided to execute phase 2 with almost the same team that completed the first phase,” says Devinck. “Given the many challenges associated with COVID-19 and the fact that we were working with a range of local parties, this was a complex project. But the team did a great job.” Project manager Arjan van Bruggen: “One advantage was that we were able to implement several lessons learned from the first phase, such as the deployment of the most suitable equipment by the subcontractors. We also made improvements to communications with local workers, who had a better understanding of their own responsibilities and safety as a result. So we performed excellently in terms of safety: over a million hours worked without a lost-time incident.” ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION MEASURES “Our environmental protection measures were also essential,” says Van Bruggen. “The waters around Bahrain include a vast area of mangroves and sea grass, and the waters in the southeastern part of Bahrain are also home to the second largest colony of dugongs (sea cows) in the world. In consultation with the authorities and in order to adhere to the environmental regulations of Bahrain, we implemented various precautions to prevent turbidity, including the use of silt screens and the construction of temporary dikes to safeguard the quality of the water during the reclamation work.” COMMUNITY SUPPORT AND STAKEHOLDER MANAGEMENT The project also included a range of activities for local society. “In one of the initiatives, we adopted the mission of a local organization that uses the proceeds from collected plastic to purchase special customized wheelchairs for the local community,” says Van Bruggen. “We collected the plastic we used on the project, from plastic drinking bottles to the plastic waste from our vessels, and handed it over to this charity.” Another initiative was the creation of a public garden in the vicinity of Al Dair as a gesture to the people living in the vicinity of the project. “That idea emerged from discussions with the client in the context of one of our Way of Working meetings,” says Van Bruggen. “We outsourced the actual construction work to a local landscaping company. The Minister of Public Works presided at a ceremony to launch the project.” In a third initiative, Boskalis assisted local fishermen to create new anchorages for their boats. “The project overlapped partially with the working area of the fishermen and some of them had to move when the work was being done. In circumstances like this, what matters is to explain clearly what you are doing,” says Devinck. “Local stakeholder management was primarily the client’s responsibility but, as the company executing the actual work, we were closely involved. We assisted the fishermen in moving to new anchorages and provided them with anchor blocks to moor their boats. We also used an excavator to construct a slope so that they can launch their fishing boats quickly. The fishermen and our client were very pleased with that approach.”