About Us
Who are we?
Wasa Dredging is a marine construction company operating mainly in the nearshore waters of Scandinavia and the Baltic region
We are a private owned construction company with own equipment and a solid financial base. Our team consists of highly specialized professionals. Professionals that provide their workmanship on basis of relevant education in combination with extensive experience and an eye for the details. Our main line of operation is capital and maintenance dredging of fairways and harbours. Underwater blasting and dredging of hard material are our specialities. And where so required we also perform environmental dredging, reclamation, trenching and backfilling, rock revetment, breakwater and erosion protection works. We are proudly certified in accordance with the ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015 and ISO 45001:2018. Our head office is in Vaasa, Finland.
How it all started
Vaasa, being part of the Kvarken Archipelago, an area in between Finland and Sweden with many Islands. Islands that provide a perfect base for summer retreats. At same time an area that because of the weight of the ice of the past Fennoscandian ice sheet, some 6000 years ago, had been compacted and this area is still recovering from this load. So far, this area has risen by some 285 meters since the glacial retreat, and this area is still rising today at a rate of some 10 mm per year.
In this environment, with a need to sail with small vessels and constant changing seabed levels there was and is a permanent need for small scale dredging.
At same time and looking once more back in history it is to be noted that the area is located on top of the Fennoscandian Shied, a formation formed some 3,100 – 900 million years ago and contains some of the oldest bedrocks of the European continent with thicknesses of 250 – 300 km.
In combination with the ice age this created an environment with challenging soil conditions for dredging operation, because it created and area where: bedrock, boulders, moraine, sands, silts, clays and peat can all be present within relative short distances from each other.
It was in this demanding setting that Wasa Dredging was founded in 1985 by Kristian Backlund.
1985
The company started with onshore excavation activities. Not long after the first dredging pontoons were added to be able to do small scale dredging work and make the Archipelago navigable.
1996
In 1996 at some 20 km from Vaasa the construction of the Replot Bridge started. This Bridge with a 1,045 meters long cable stayed crossing connects mainland Finland with the Island of Replot. Given the geological history of the Archipelago and the presence of the ice in the winters this project required some challenging dredging and rock works. Wasa Dredging got involved and it meant a big step forward for the company in this two-year project and pushed the idea to develop bigger and more efficient units.
To be able to do bigger projects in the challenging geological environment the first bigger backhoe dredger is being added. The dredger “Long John” is updated inhouse and equipped with a Hitachi EX 1100 excavator and two 300m3 split barges are added to the fleet.
2003
As the projects grew bigger we decided to develop and build our first brand new Backhoe dredger, the “Attila”, carrying a Hitachi EX 1900, in addition two self-propelled split barges were purchased from Irland and updated to meet our standard. At the same time we developed our first totally new drill rigg, wish was deployed on an updated pontoon the “Pora1”. This new equipment enabled us to successfully complete the blasting and dredging of the Vuosaari fairway in 2004 and 2005.
2010
The company developed further and came with the next generation of equipment. New, bigger and better engineered equipment started to be taken into use. Equipment ready to face the challenging marine environment, with: rock, boulders and moraine, in which it must work. The first units added were the new backhoe dredger “Hector” (Hitachi EX 2500) and a new drill and blast platform “Boulder” with a further developed drill rigg. Simultaneously two new 940 m³ split hopper barges were taken in use. At a later stage “Hector” and “Boulder” (now with Hitachi EX 1200) are converted to a combined backhoe and drill and blast pontoon. In which format they continue to be a valuable add on to our operation. The company starts to expands it geographical footprint.
2014
The company continues to grow, and more skilled staff is being added to handle to workload. At same time the inhouse developed and build backhoe dredger “Optimus” (Hitachi EX 3600) is being taken into use.
2017
The first self-propelled barges were developed and built. “Sinann” and “Boann” have a hopper volume of 1010 m³ and allowed for faster navigation in rougher weather conditions. These barges are build heavy duty so they can withstand the impact from the rock and boulders that are loaded and so operate over longer times without time lost for repairs.
We take on our first project in Denmark for the harbour of Kalundborg.
2018
Wasa Dredging’s biggest project in Kokkola, Finland (totalling 50 million Euro) is secured. To meet the schedule, the dredger “Harald” (Hitachi EX2500) is bought and added. On basis of the experience gained “Harald” has been rebuilt and modernized to meet the Wasa Dredging standards. And in the same year we start our first project in the United Kingdom.
2021
In order to be able to better control the quality of the works a survey department is established. A survey manager appointed. Hardware and software ordered including a survey vessel.
2022
A new multi-use support platform “Balder” is added, which can be equipped with a tracked Hitachi EX1200 or a drill and blast unit and can be used for land reclamation work, on-water construction or even blasting and dredging work.
Also, we take in use our own yard at Vasklot, Vaasa. This yard offers a workplace for our technical and purchase department and provides ample space for some of our floating units, our buckets, booms, sticks and other spare parts
2024
Beginning of the year Kristian Backlund steps down as CEO of the company and continues his role as Chairman of the Board and keeps involved in the technical department and in particular in the development of new equipment. At same Michael Backlund is formally installed as new CEO and Daniel Backlund is promoted to deputy CEO of the company. This move shows commitment and trust towards the future by owners. The new management is now actively working to shape the company of tomorrow and be able to serve our markets in accordance with the requirements of the time.
2025
Delivery of the two new heavy duty 1,000 m³ split hopper barges “Rocky” and “Rockster”. This latest addition also underlines the trust we have in the future of the company after already 40 years of marine construction services provided by the company
TODAY
TODAY
With a team of some 60 specialists and several long-term partners, like Rauma Cata, we are serving marine construction projects in mainly Finland, Sweden and Norway and in addition we are on regular basis working in Denmark, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania Poland and UK. And are constantly working to extend our geographical footprint and client base.
With our custom made, robust and at same time efficient and versatile spread consisting of: one 360 tons backhoe, two units equipped with a 250 backhoe and a drill rig, one 120 tons backhoe and a drill rig, one multipurpose pontoon that can be equipped with our 120 tons excavator and our ten split hopper barges, of which two are self-propelled, we are ready to construct and provide support in a wide range of marine construction projects. Where needed we use the winter periods to maintain and upgrade our units, so they are kept to standard and can deliver the expected output in the navigation seasons.
With our team and units, we serve a wide range of marine construction projects. We are mainly focused on capital dredging projects up to several million m³ of soil or several 100 thousand m³ of rock that needs to be removed. Besides we perform: maintenance dredging, dredging in confined and shallow areas, removal of unsuitable soft layers, removal of contaminated soils, dredging of trenches and backfilling for pipes a cables, dredging of shore approaches, removal of boulders, placing of erosion protections, placing of rock revetments, making of bunds and breakwaters, land reclamation etc.
Our turnover is between 30 – 45 million Euro a year, depending on the market, and is expected to climb in the coming years.
Wasa Dredging with its in house developed and build tools, tailored to meet the requirements that were set thousands of years ago, has proven to be very competitive, providing value for money to our clients and we are ready to keep delivering excellent and timely marine construction services in the geological and marine challenging environment in which we work. And these tools have also proven to be very effective in the markets and countries we entered in the last decade.
As a result, we are confident to state that Wasa Dredging is ready to assist in realizing your marine construction projects of tomorrow.