We were thrilled to have been involved in the Solent Seascape Project in 2023. This multi-million pound, five-year partnership, funded by the Endangered Landscapes Project, aims to restore a wealth of diverse marine species and habitats back to the Solent, in this instance Oysters to the River Hamble. And following the success of the original phase of this project we are back helping with the next.

After careful planning and discussion, and working closely again with the River Hamble Harbour Authority and ocean conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation, our team laid another thin veneer of shingle mixed with cockleshells, known as ‘cultch,’ covering 2,500 metres square onto the riverbed, just as with the original phase of the project .

Our 300m³ capacity, self-propelled and highly manoeuvrable hopper barge Needles was on hand for transportation of the shingle mix to site, while our self-propelled spud-leg, utility vessel Doreen Dorward, with its large open deck, well & moon pool, provided a platform for our excavator to precisely deploy the “cultch” at an even thickness of 150mm. Our Prolec precision digital dredging system (shown right) has proved invaluable during all phases of this delicate operation.

Matt Uttley, Restoration Project Manager, Blue Marine Foundation said:

“I just wanted to say a huge thank you on behalf of the Blue Marine team for all of your help and work this week getting the new oyster reef built. It has felt like a smooth and straightforward process and I am very much looking forward to working with you all again for our future reef building!”

As with the original reef 10,000 native oysters sourced from south Wales are being transferred to the site to seed the area close to the original reef at  Swanwick bend in the River. This has been a successful and rewarding project, which we are proud to have been a part of and we look forward to continuing our work with Blue Marine in the future.

You can find more about the ground-breaking Hamble Oyster Reef Project from the following sources:

• Blue Marine Foundation:  https://www.bluemarinefoundation.com/projects/solent-seascape-project/
• BBC NEWS (Original article):   https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c72dkg8engko/
• Endangered Landscapes Programme: https://www.endangeredlandscapes.org/project/solent-seascape/

If you have a requirement for specialist marine operations in shallow or near shore projects, please feel free to get in touch to see where we can help.