Weeks Marine expands dredge fleet

   Weeks Marine said it plans to christen a new $41 million ocean-going hydraulic cutter suction dredge, CR McCaskill, today at its Houma Marine Yard in Houma, La.
   The vessel is named for the dredging division’s top technical and equipment executive, Charles R. McCaskill, and is the third of five dredges Weeks is building at a cost of $200 million.
   The company expects to complete another dredge, the  8,500-cubic-yard hopper dredge Magdalen in two years. It’s under construction at BAE Systems in Mobile, Ala., and will be the Weeks’ largest, fastest, and most fuel efficient hopper dredge. 
   CR McCaskill and Magdalen will represent new investment exceeding $135 million, said President Richard S. Weeks. The two dredges will also create 125 new jobs.
   “I remain optimistic about the future of the U.S. marketplace. Both the growth of international trade and the U.S. seaport industry, and the wide acceptance of beach nourishment as the coastal and shore protection option of choice, demand new energy-efficient tools to be brought into the marketplace,” Weeks said.