Weeks Marine and Eastern Shipbuilding Group (Eastern) 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.
“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 the co-founder of the company and the husband of Magdalen Weeks. 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.