Posted on June 13, 2025
Dredging contractors across the U.S. have been steadily expanding their fleets to keep up with strong demand for their services.
“The state of the U.S. Jones Act private sector dredging industry is healthy and highly competitive,” said William P. Doyle, CEO of the Dredging Contractors of America, a trade group representing the U.S. dredging industry. “The industry continues with its $3 billion construction of new dredges and associated vessels and equipment.”
Recent years have seen American shipyards construct several new dredges, including cutter suction dredges, trailing suction hopper dredges (TSHD), and clamshell dredges. Currently under construction are new TSHDs for Manson Construction Co., Seattle, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp., Houston, The Dutra Group, San Rafael, Calif., and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, as well as a new clamshell dredge for Curtin Maritime Corp., Long Beach, Calif.
BIG BUCKET
Martin Curtin, CEO of Curtin Maritime, said that the increasing number of port-deepening projects worldwide, needed to accommodate larger ships, as well as “an obscene amount of beach nourishment and shoreline resilience projects,” are driving demand across the dredging industry.
“We’re seeing a large uptake in the dredging markets wholesale. Every genre — whether it’s cutterhead, suction hopper dredging, or mechanical clamshell — all three are seeing large increases in volume and projects. So, you’re seeing a lot of investment across the board between new hopper dredges being built, new cutterhead dredges being built.”
As a clamshell dredging specialist, Curtin Maritime is investing exclusively in the mechanical dredging market. Its new dredge, the 254’x86′ DB Catalina, under construction at LAD Services, Morgan City, La., will be a record-breaker, surpassing the company’s 250’x77′ DB Avalon — built in 2022 by Conrad Deepwater South, Morgan City — as the largest mechanical clamshell dredge in the Western Hemisphere.
“We have not seen a lot of capex” — capital expenditure — “in the clamshell dredging markets,” said Curtin. “Everybody’s building new hopper dredges and new cutterhead dredges. We felt the fleet on the clamshell side was aging and outdated. And so we thought that, coupled with the difficulty of mechanical dredging and our specific skill set, was the area that we wanted to continue to expand in.”
When designing the DB Catalina in partnership with The Shearer Group Inc., Houston, Curtin Maritime took cues from its DB Avalon build but amplified its size and capacities. “Ultimately, it’s just a larger version of the same thing,” Curtin said. “The large maintenance bucket on the DB Avalon is a 70-cubic-yard bucket, the DB Catalina’s is 100 … The DB Avalon is 110-metric-ton single-line capacity as far as its dredge capacity. This one is 160-metric-ton, so it’s just shy of one and a half times the size.”
The hybrid-electric dredge is also highly efficient, with automated dredging capabilities and the option to operate as a fully electric plug-in for zero-emissions performance. “Energy is harnessed through regenerative braking as the bucket lowers, charging onboard supercapacitors. The energy is then deployed to assist hoisting of the bucket, alongside the [two main Wabtec 12V250 Tier 4] generators,” said Davlyn Freitas, project manager at Curtin Maritime. “This system results in lower fuel consumption and allows for smaller generators to be installed due to lower peak energy load demand.”
A LOT OF HOPPERS
Another record-setter slated to join the Jones Act dredge fleet is the 419’10″x81′ Frederick Paup, which is being built for Manson at Seatrium AmFELLS, Brownsville, Texas. It will offer 15,000-cubic-yard dredging capacity, surpassing Manson’s 13,500-cubic-yard Glenn Edwards as the largest self-propelled hopper dredge ever constructed in the U.S. (The TSHD Ellis Island, built in 2017 by Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Inc., Panama City, Fla., for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock, also has 15,000-cubic-yard capacity, but it is not self-propelled. It is paired with the tug Douglas B. Mackie and operated as an articulated tug barge.)
Designed by Manson in partnership with Hockema Group, Seattle, the Frederick Paup will be powered by three Tier 4 Wabtec 16V250MDC main engines. It will be propelled by three stern Z-drive units with a pair of bowthrusters forward. It is equipped with two 12V250MDC gensets, also from Wabtec.
Originally scheduled for delivery in 2023, the delayed Frederick Paup is now on track for delivery this year.
Another TSHD on pace to be delivered this year is the 346’x69′ Amelia Island, a second 6,500-cubic-yard TSHD built by Conrad Shipyard, Amelia, La., for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock. It follows the Galveston Island delivered in 2023. The sister vessels were designed by C-Job, Hoofddorp, the Netherlands. Each features a pair of Tier 4 Wabtec 12V250MDC main engines and two 6L250MDC gensets for 16,500 total installed horsepower. The Amelia Island features two 800-mm suction pipes and will be able to dredge at depths of up to 100′. The dredge will be equipped with a direct high-power pump-ashore installation, dredging system automation, dynamic positioning and tracking, and other features to minimize environmental impact, according to Great Lakes.
In March, the Dutra Group ordered a new 10,464-cubic-yard TSHD from Eastern Shipbuilding. The 347’x79’6″ Adele, to be constructed at Eastern’s Allanton and Port St. Joe, Fla., facilities, is scheduled for delivery in late 2028.
“The Dutra Group is committed to the U.S. dredging market, and we understand that we need to continuously reinvest in capital assets to stay competitive,” said Will Wallgren, the company’s vice president of business development and government relations.
Before ordering the largest capital investment in the company’s history, Dutra analyzed the U.S. dredging market, including how demand is changing and where a new hopper dredge would be most productive, said Wallgren. “As the operators of the 9,870-cubic-yard TSHD Stuyvesant, we wanted a new dredge that would complement our existing capability,” he said. “We saw this new construction as an opportunity to broaden our ability to better respond to the market across multiple sectors, channel deepening, operations and maintenance, beach nourishment, and performing marsh and wetland fill or restoration work.”
The twin-screw dredge will be based on the Beagle Mk2 design from Royal IHC, Kinderdijk, the Netherlands. “The Adele is being constructed first and foremost to ensure the highest level of crew health and safety. Digging capability, fuel efficiency, and ease of operations have all been maximized. Also, the Adele will have enhanced capacity for pump-off operations,” said Wallgren.
The Adele’s hopper has a V-shaped cross section and is provided with a single row of bottom doors for quick offloading of dredged material. The design also incorporates a bow connection for efficient material pump-off. The hull shape features a bulbous bow to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
“The decision to go with the IHC Beagle was driven by numerous factors,” said Wallgren. “It is a proven design that is essentially construction-ready. That presented an opportunity to fast-track the dredge to market. Also, picking this design naturally aligned us with two critical partners, Royal IHC and Eastern Shipbuilding Group, who already have a successful history of working together.”
Other Royal IHC-designed dredges built by Eastern include the 8,550-cubic-yard Magdalen, delivered to Weeks Marine Inc., Cranford, N.J., in 2017, and a 6,000-cubic-yard medium-class hopper dredge currently under construction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for scheduled delivery in 2027.
The Corps’ new 320’x72′ dredge will join its Ready Reserve fleet, replacing the 57-year-old McFarland, which is operated by the Corps’ Philadelphia District. The new dredge will be equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion system that meets EPA Tier 4 standards.
“USACE hasn’t built a deep-draft hopper dredge in about 45 years,” said John Primavera, regional business director for USACE North Atlantic Division, in a statement when first steel was cut for the new dredge in April. “This new dredge is going to play a critical role in helping us deliver our navigation mission, which enables maritime commerce to flow on our nation’s waterways. This strengthens our economy and supports our national security.”
POLICY WINDFALL
The Trump administration’s push to bolster the U.S. maritime industry could provide a boost for the dredging sector, possibly even driving more newbuild activity, according to DCA’s Doyle.
“The dredging industry is a vital part of the Jones Act [sector]. We’re here to support the maritime industry as well as national and economic security,” said Doyle. “Recent actions by the president and Congress provide opportunities for dredging and marine construction, whether that be upgrading and dredging for existing shipyards or building new shipyards in the United States.”
In addition to a potential increase in workload, policy changes could help stimulate further dredge fleet renewal. “The dredging industry looks forward to tax incentives, loan guarantee restructuring, and other financial programs supporting construction of dredges in U.S. shipyards,” Doyle added.
Wallgren agreed: “President Trump is focusing a long-overdue light on the state of our nation’s maritime readiness, both commercially and militarily.
“As a part of the larger maritime community, it’s impossible not to be excited about the rapid changes we’re seeing in the recognition of the role our industry plays in supporting the U.S. economy, our national security, and defense,” he said. “[The president’s] executive orders are a grand slam for the U.S. and the Jones Act, America’s first America First law: we must build our own assets in our own shipyards, we must own them, they must be American-flagged, and most importantly, they must be crewed with American labor.”
