On December 22, after passing her sea trials and regulatory inspections, the newest vessel in Weeks Marine’s fleet – the Magdalen, was officially delivered by Eastern Shipbuilding just in time for the holidays.
On December 28, she sailed from Panama City, Florida, on her maiden voyage to the East Coast.
The Magdalen is one of the two newest, and among the largest, hopper dredges in the U.S. She is self-propelled and will bring formidable pumping power to off-load beach quality sand or other materials for land reclamation.
The Magdalen arrived yesterday in Southport, NC, and is bringing on supplies and crew before going to work on one of the State’s most critical projects: the protection of Highway 12 in the Buxton area on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, according to Weeks’ Senior Vice President, Dredging Division, J. Stephen Chatry.
“ As the single largest investment in Weeks’ 99-year history, I am pleased that the Magdalen’s first project will be finishing up a vital project to North Carolina and to visitors from around the world ,” said President Richard S. Weeks . “ We are looking forward to observing her at work and integrating her into our dredging and marine construction family .”
The introduction of the Magdalen effectively doubles Weeks’ hopper dredging capacity, joining the RN Weeks and BE Lindholm, Weeks’ workhorse hopper dredges, whose combined hopper capacity is less than that of the new dredge.
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