Dutch marine engineering company ECTMarine has handed over a purpose-built workboat to Arab Potash Company (APC) in Jordan following successful site acceptance testing (SAT).

The SAT of the Custom Workboat 104 was completed last week on APC’s brine evaporation ponds at the Dead Sea. APC was represented on site by its main contractor, Alghanem.

Built for the conditions at the Dead Sea

Designed and built in the Netherlands, the workboat was tailored to the conditions at the Dead Sea, where the dense, highly saline brine and the site’s location around 400 metres below sea level posed specific challenges.

The Custom Workboat 104 features a forward wheelhouse, an open working deck and a knuckle-boom deck crane. ECTMarine designed the vessel around APC’s operational requirements, with a hull and deck layout suitable for road transport on a standard flat rack.

“The Dead Sea is not a normal place to operate a boat. The brine is extremely dense and corrosive, the site is remote, and the vessel has to be moved by road and lifted in by crane. We needed a workboat built around those conditions and around the tasks APC performs on the ponds. ECTMarine took the time to understand that before they started designing,” explained Abdallah Ghammaz, Project Manager at Alghanem.

The vessel completed its factory acceptance test (FAT) in the Netherlands in summer 2026. During a two-day programme, a delegation representing the buyer witnessed a sea trial and demonstrations of the vessel’s systems, operating modes and configurations. Adjustments agreed during the FAT were completed before shipment.

The workboat was shipped to Jordan on a flat rack and trucked along the dykes of APC’s evaporation ponds to the launch point. There, a mobile crane with a double spreader-bar rig lifted it from the trailer into the brine.

ECTMarine, Alghanem and APC jointly conducted the SAT, testing the vessel’s propulsion, deck crane and onboard systems under operating conditions. Following successful completion of the tests, the workboat is ready to enter service.

“The SAT confirmed that the vessel does what it was designed to do, in the real conditions on the ponds. Seeing it float in the brine for the first time and then pass every test was a proud moment for everyone involved. The workboat will now go into daily service for APC, and we look forward to seeing it at work,” added Ghammaz.

The project reflects ECTMarine’s approach to custom vessel design, with the vessel’s configuration tailored to its operating environment, transport requirements and intended use. ECTMarine will continue to support APC and Alghanem as the workboat enters service.