Dredging contractor Mike Hooks recently celebrated the christening of the new cutter suction dredge (CSD) Lorraine Hooks.
The vessel, named after the wife of the company’s founder, was built at Southwest Shipyard in Galveston, Tx., and delivered to its Westlake, La.-based owner earlier this year.
The 300-foot Lorraine Hooks, with a dredging depth of 75 feet, “will be deployed on both coastal restoration and navigation dredging projects in Louisiana and across the Gulf region to improve climate resiliency and strengthen maritime infrastructure” according to Mike Hooks.
The 27-inch CSD, the company said, “was designed and constructed in in compliance with the latest requirements and regulations from the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, including the implementation of the Dredging Quality Management (DQM) program.”
In addition, the dredge was designed and built according to the Green Passport standards laid out by the International Maritime Organization, with all equipment and material used in its construction tracked and inventoried.
C-Job Naval Architects, based in the Netherlands, was responsible for the design, including the majority of the dredge equipment, which was built by SPI/Mobile Pulley Works of Mobile, Ala.
Prior to its christening, the dredge was moved to Southwest Shipyard’s Brady Island facility in Houston, Tx. where it was drydocked, sandblasted, and had a fresh coat of paint was laid on before a return to the Southwest yard in Galveston, where its equipment was installed.
A major component of the work in Galveston was the fabrication and installation of the dredge’s 430,000 lb. cutter ladder, which was carried and lowered into place by the yard’s overhead gantry cranes.
The dredge is state-of-the-art and will be equipped with “home-away-from-home” living quarters with A60 fire rating insulation and constructed on vibration mounts to reduce fatigue for the crew from harmonic vibrations and noise.
A ladder gantry and anchor boom stops have been installed, in addition to a NOVEC fire suppression system is installed in the engine room and control rooms. A cutterhead platform allows safe operations while maintenance is performed, and operation monitoring displays and tablets are positioned at points throughout the dredge and crew quarters.
Mike Hooks currently operates an active fleet of five cutter suction dredges – the new Lorraine Hooks, three other 27-inch, and one 24-inch CSDs.