Invitation to Hamburg

Ladies and gentlemen,

As Chairman of WODA it is my privilege to invite you to participate in WODCON XVII in Hamburg, Germany. This Congress has its own dredging exhibition and runs in conjunction with the 21st Shipbuilding, Machinery and Marine Technology International Trade Fair SMM, one of the most famous trade shows for shipping and shipbuilding in the world.

The historic Hanseatic city of Hamburg must be the ideal venue for a dredging congress. One of the world's top-ranking ports, with its unique position on the Elbe river some 120 km from the North Sea, it enjoys the status of both seaport and river port. Dredging is crucial to the development and maintenance of the harbours and navigation channels of this busy port. The high concentration of the Elbe sediments, combined with increasingly stringent environmental regulations, has led Hamburg to develop quite sophisticated approaches to the treatment and disposal of large volumes of dredged material. Opportunity enough for fruitful technical visits.

Hamburg is a bustling cosmopolitan city, rich in history and cultural attractions and our venue is in the heart of the city. Those accompanying the delegates can join the social programme and technical visits of the congress and also enjoy their own programme of excursions, and join the post congress tour.

Ladies and gentlemen, you are all most heartily welcome and we will be very pleased to see old friends and make new ones at WODCON XVII in Hamburg.

Rewert Wurpts

Chairman WODA, President CEDA