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Van Oord - a leading contractor specialising in dredging, marine engineering and offshore projects - said on Tuesday that it is "proud" of its investment decision to build a new crane ship, to be named the Werkendam, that will be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Referring to LNG as "the clean energy of the future", Van Oord confirmed that it spent a total of EUR 240 million on fleet investments in 2016 compared to EUR 207 million the year before.

"We invested in modern and efficient vessels that can produce more output at a lower unit price and require less maintenance. Modern vessels consume less fuel, allowing us to achieve our carbon emission reduction targets. All in all, our investment has lowered the total cost of ownership of our fleet," Van Oord explained in its annual results for 2016.

As reported earlier this month, the Werkendam will be Van Oord's first to be powered by LNG; it will be capable of running on LNG with marine gas oil (MGO) as backup.

With a 38-cubic-metre tank on the aft deck, the ship will be able to store enough LNG on board to sail and operate for 14 days without bunkering LNG.

Annual results

In its results for 2016, issued on Tuesday, Van Oord posted a decrease in net profit of EUR 78.8 million, or 46.6 percent, to EUR 90.2 million. The Dutch firm said that this was driven largely by lower revenues and pressure on project margins.

Gross profit fell by EUR 103.2 million, or 25.7 percent, to EUR 297.6 million. Operating profit declined by EUR 96.2 million, or 40.1 percent, to EUR 142.7 million. Net turnover dropped EUR 866.3 million, or 33.6 percent, to EUR 1,712.9 million.

Commenting on the results, CEO Pieter van Oord remarked: "After two years of explosive growth, 2016 was a year of dwindling revenue and declining profits. Worsening conditions in the dredging and offshore oil and gas markets put revenue and margins under pressure. The downward trend has many different causes: the completion of major projects, the low oil price, slower growth in world trade and overcapacity of dredging and offshore equipment. Market conditions in the maritime sector were extremely difficult in 2016."

In its outlook for 2017, Van Oord said: "We added a considerable number of projects to our order portfolio in 2016. However, since most of these projects will be executed in 2018 and later, we will not see any positive effects on our financial results until then. 2017 will be a challenging year. The harsh market circumstances for dredging and Offshore oil & gas will continue to impact us. Van Oord is a robust company with an excellent financial position."