Posted on January 11, 2022
Two powerful, robust 6DL36 generator sets have left the Anglo Belgian Corporation (ABC) factory in Belgium for the Southwest Shipyard in Galveston, Texas. They are to be installed in a new, 27-inch cutter suction dredge (CSD) on order for Mike Hooks LLC, West Lake, La.
The non-self-propelled CSD will be equipped with an SCR system and meet the highest EPA emission requirements. The CSD, the Lorraine Hooks, which will be commissioned in the course of 2022, will be used for dredging rivers and waterways.
This is the first time that Mike Hooks is using engines from ABC. Robustness and durability were a major consideration in the engine choice. All the power on the dredge is generated by the two 6DL36 generator sets at 600 rpm—each unit delivering a conservative 2,995 kWe of power. The generator sets are designed to run on alternative, more CO2 neutral fuels in the future. With this, says ABC, Mike Hooks is poised to be the most emission-friendly dredging contractor in the North American continent.
Some of the deciding factors in making the engine choice were the best fuel economy, the lowest CO2 footprint, the least number of working cylinders, the slow-running engine regime and the mechanical quality of ABC engines.
This allows the owners to deploy a maximum in-house led maintenance program and achieve a remarkable uptime on the dredge.
SUPPLIER RELATIONSHIPS
The owners also pay special attention to maintaining a good relationship of trust and cooperation with their suppliers. This philosophy, which company founder Mike Hooks always upheld, has paid dividends. Today, the company is 100% owned by his daughter Kim Hooks McMahon and granddaughter Veronica “Ronnie” Hooks.
“The memory of our parents is very important to us,” said Kim Hooks McMahon. “I think it is important to honor our parents and to continue to do the things we were taught at birth. I wanted to apply this philosophy to the choice of drive for our latest dredger, which bears my mother’s name. We are very pleased to find a partner in ABC that shares the same philosophy. This is what my father would have wanted.”
“Right from the start, there was a special connection with the Hooks family,” said Pieter Boeykens, senior sales manager North America of Anglo Belgian Corporation. “The close relationship with their parents always came to the forefront during various discussions. Many things such as the family approach, the commitment, the entrepreneurship, the competence, and the trust I find in both Mike Hooks and ABC. I am therefore particularly proud that ABC was chosen as a partner.”
Mike Hooks LLC, based in Louisiana and active across the Gulf region from Florida to Texas, has built a solid reputation over the past decades for maintenance dredging, port expansion, beach reclamation, wetland restoration and disaster recovery. With this new 27-inch cutter suction dredge, the company is expanding its fleet again and continues to invest in the sustainable development of its activities.
