Continuing with billions of dollars in strong capital investments made recently by the U.S. Dredging Industry . . .
Today (April 23, 2019), Weeks Marine and Eastern Shipbuilding Group (Eastern) announced they have signed a contract to construct a sister ship to Weeks Marine’s TSHD MAGDALEN, the twin screw trailing suction hopper dredge built by Eastern and placed into service in 2018. The new vessel will be constructed at Eastern’s Allanton Panama City, Florida facility. The contract to construct the new ship was signed on April 16, 2020.
“I spoke this morning with Lt. General Todd T. Semonite, Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers informing him of the contract we signed with Eastern to build the new hopper dredge,” said Richard S. Weeks, Chief Executive Officer of Weeks Marine. “We work hand-in-hand with the Army Corps of Engineers in delivering the mission for our country.”
Named the RB WEEKS, this new Trailing Suction Hopper Dredge is scheduled for delivery early 1Q 2023 (or earlier). The RB WEEKS is named after Richard B. Weeks co-founder of Weeks Marine and the husband of Magdalen Weeks. Thus, this new ship will be the sister vessel to the MAGDALEN.
“This is the third major capital construction shipbuilding project in as many years for Weeks Marine. It reflects Weeks Marine’s commitment to building dredges to serve the needs of the United States of America,” said William P. Doyle, Chief Executive Officer of the Dredging Contractors of America. “U.S. dredging companies are putting people to work and keeping them working doing America’s dredging – American built – American owned – American crewed.”
It is the third large scale hopper dredge over the past 5 years that Eastern has built and is constructing, reflecting Eastern’s commitment to building complex dredge vessels for the U.S. Jones Act maritime industry. In August of 2019, Weeks Marine placed into service its new cutter suction dredge CSD JS CHATRY. The CHATRY was built at C&C Shipyard in Belle Chase, Louisiana.
Established in 1919, Weeks Marine is a family-owned company. Weeks continues to strengthen its operations through the acquisition of leading businesses combined with building new ships and frequent upgrades to its fleet of top-grade equipment. Weeks takes pride in providing exceptional customer service, environmental sensibility, operational efficiency, and a long-standing commitment to safety.
Weeks Marine is headquartered in Cranford, New Jersey, and manages a network of U.S. regional offices and facilities in Louisiana, Texas and Hawaii.
Eastern Shipbuilding Group currently operates two shipyards in Panama City, Florida, the Allanton and North Street facilities.
Salient Characteristics of the RB Weeks:
Vessel Name: RB WEEKS
ESG Hull#: 258
Dimensions (Overall): 356’ x 79’-6”’x 27’-3”
Main Engines: (2) GE 16V250 MDC IMOIII/EPA Tier 4
Main Propulsion: (2) Wartsila CPP in Nozzles
Main Gears: (2) Siemens (Flender)
Bow Thruster: (1) AC 730kW VFD Fixed Pitch Tunnel Unit
Main Shaft Generators: (2) x 3400kW
Auxiliary Generator: (1) GE 6L250 MDC (1423kW) IMOIII/EPA Tier 4
Emergency Generator: (1) Caterpillar C18 (430kW) IMOII/EPA Tier 3
Classification: Lloyd’s Register, 100A1 Hopper Dredger, LMC, UMS
Flag & Regulatory: USA, US Coast Guard
Hopper Capacity: 8,550 yd³ (6540m3)
Accommodations: 26 Person
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