Eastern Shipbuilding delivers dredge vessel
This week, Eastern Shipbuilding Group announced the delivery of R.B. WEEKS, a 8,550 cubic yard capacity trailing suction hopper dredge constructed for Weeks Marine, Inc.
The vessel has been housed at their Port St. Joe lot for almost a year, where it underwent finishing, outfitting and sea trials before being delivered to the customer.
“It’s our pleasure to once again deliver a quality vessel on time and on budget to our valued customers at Weeks Marine, Inc.,” said Joey D’Isernia, president of Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc. “The R.B. Weeks joins an impressive fleet that works alongside the Army Corps of Engineers to preserve our treasured waterways.”
According to Weeks Marine President and CEO Eric Ellefsen, the delivery of R.B. Weeks is a significant milestone for the company and the largest capital investment in Weeks Marine history, which spans over a century.
“We look forward to putting the R.B. Weeks to work deepening and maintaining navigation channels, restoring storm-damaged coastal barrier islands and nourishing beaches lost to erosion, aiding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other key clients,” he said.
The R.B. WEEKS is named in honor of Richard B. Weeks, a co-founder of Weeks Marine and married to Magdalen Weeks, the namesake of the sister vessel MAGDALEN, built by ESG. In nearly all respects, the R.B. WEEKS is identical to the MAGDALEN, delivered by ESG in 2017.
Details of the R.B. WEEKS
| Dimensions (Overall): | 364’-06” x 79’-6”’x 27’-3” |
| Designer: | Royal IHC |
| Main Engines: | (2) GE 16V250 MDC IMOIII/EPA Tier 4 |
| Main Propulsion: | (2) Wartsila CPP in Nozzles |
| Reduction Gears: | (4) Siemens (Flender) |
| Bow Thruster: | (1) Wartsila Fixed Pitch Tunnel Unit |
| Main Generators: | (2) Hyundai |
| Auxiliary Generator: | (1) GE 6L250 MDC IMOIII/EPA Tier 4 / Hyundai |
| Emergency Generator: | (1) Caterpillar C18 IMOII/EPA Tier 3 |
| Classification: | Lloyd’s Register, X100A1 Hopper Dredger, XLMC, UMS |
| Flag & Regulatory: | USA, USCG |
| Hopper Capacity: | 8,550 yd³ (6540m3) |
| Accommodations: | 26 Person |
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.