King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands has conferred the right for Van Oord to use the designation Koninklijk or Royal.
The King’s Commissioner in the Province of Zuid-Holland Jaap Smit presented the certificate to Van Oord chief executive Pieter van Oord during an international symposium at Laurenskerk in Rotterdam to celebrate the company’s 150th anniversary.
Pieter van Oord said: “It is an honour to have the right to use the royal designation. It crowns the 150 years of entrepreneurship, spirit and perseverance displayed by my predecessors and all our employees today.”
Smit said: “Rotterdam is proud, Zuid-Holland is proud and the Netherlands is proud. Van Oord is looking forward to a hopefully bright future as a Royal company.”
Govert van Oord founded the company in 1868, starting out as an independent entrepreneur. The fifth generation of the Van Oord family is now running the company, which is active in the international dredging, oil and gas and offshore wind sectors.