Jan De Nul

Jan De Nul Group is a family-owned company, originally from Belgium, with a financial headquarters in Luxembourg. Its four main activities are Offshore Energy, Dredging Solutions, Construction Projects and Planet Redevelopment.

Jan De Nul Group (Sofidra S.A.)

Company type	Private
Industry	Offshore Energy, Dredging Solutions, Construction projects, Planet Redevelopment
Founded	1938
Founder	Jan De Nul
Headquarters	Aalst, Belgium and Capellen, Luxembourg
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Julie De Nul (CEO) JPJ De Nul (Chairman) Dirk De Nul (Director)
Revenue	€ 4 billion (2024)
Operating income	€ 777 million (2024)
Net income	€ 409 million (2024)
Number of employees	8.801 (2024)
Website	www.jandenul.com

History

The trailing suction hopper dredger Alexander von Humboldt

Founded in 1938 in Hofstade, near Aalst, Belgium, Jan De Nul started as a construction company specialised in civil works and maritime construction. It was only in 1951 that the company entered into the dredging business. Recently, it has forayed into offshore wind business, including European wind energy projects.

At the end of 2023, Jan De Nul had 7,491 employees and a yearly turnover of 2.9 billion euro.^[1] Other major dredging companies are Dutch companies Royal Boskalis and Royal Van Oord, and the Belgian DEME.^[2]

Early 2025, Jan De Nul rebranded into World Builders, shaping water, land and energy. The focus of their new story is on the diversity of its activities and their social relevance as a solutions provider for challenges like the transition to renewable energy, soil and water pollution and coastline protection.

Jan De Nul was voted the most attractive employer in Belgium in 2008 and 2009.^[3]

Fleet

Jan De Nul has a fleet of 95 vessels, including 29 trailing suction hopper dredgers, 12 cutter suction dredgers, 17 split hopper barges, 6 backhoe dredgers, 5 water injection dredgers, 5 offshore rock installation vessels, 3 multi-purpose offshore vessels, 2 offshore jack-up installation vessels, 3 cable installation vessels (with 2 more under construction),^[4] 3 heavy lift vessels, and 1 oil recovery vessel.^[5]

It also has a fleet of heavy equipment, including 77 dump trucks, 191 tracked excavators, 32 tower cranes, 64 bulldozers, 71 wheel loaders, etc.

Records

Largest hopper dredgers: TSHD 'Cristobal Colon' and 'Leiv Eiriksson', capacity of 46,000 m³, maximum dredging depth of 155 m^[6]

Largest rock installation vessels: FPV 'Simon Stevin' and 'Joseph Plateau' with a capacity of 31,500 tonnes, rock installation possible in depths of up to 2,000 m^[7]

Largest cable laying vessel: CLV 'Isaac Newton', - combined turn table capacity of 12,400 tonnes^[8] (2 larger vessels are on order, the 'William Thompson' and 'Fleeming Jenkin', with a capacity of 29,500 tonnes, to be delivered in 2026^[9])

Largest cutter dredger: CSD 'Willem Van Rubroeck' with a cutter capacity of 8,500 kW, and a total installed power of 40,975 kW, and an operational working depth of up to 45 metres^[10]

Projects

Major projects realised (in part or whole) by Jan De Nul include:

• Reclamation works at Chek Lap Kok (1992-1995)^[11]
• NorFra Pipeline Installation Project: pretrenching, seabed levelling, landfall dredging and civil works (1995-1997)^[12]
• Palm Jebel Ali artificial island in Dubai,^[13] and the adjacent Dubai Waterfront.^[14]
• Panama Canal expansion project,^[15]
• Bridgetown Port enhancement project,^[16]
• Port Botany expansion,^[17]
• Manifa Field Causeway and Island Project in Saudi Arabia,^[18]
• Takoradi Harbour expansion project in Ghana.^[19]
• Power inter-connector cable over a distance of 135 km and up to 1 km deep sea, with 12,000 tons of cable, connecting the island Crete with the Greek mainland. (2020-2021)^[20]
• 25-year concession to maintain the Guayaquil Port Access Channel (2019-2044)^[21]
• Princess Elizabeth island, the world's first artificial energy island (2024-2026)^[22]

Hijacked vessel

In April 2009, the Jan De Nul vessel "Pompei" was hijacked by Somali pirates en route from Aden to Seychelles. The ship and its crew of ten were released after 71 days on 28 June 2009, after De Nul had paid 2.8 million Euros, according to media reports.^[23]