(PANAMA CITY, Fla.) — Eastern Shipbuilding Group, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and Royal IHC held a keel-laying ceremony Jan. 22 for the ongoing construction of the dredge Donnelly at Eastern’s facility in Allanton, Fla.
“As the shipbuilder for the Donnelly, this keel laying represents an important production milestone for our team and a clear demonstration of the progress being made on this vessel,” said Joey D’Isernia, chairman and CEO of Eastern Shipbuilding Group. “Our workforce is executing this program with a strong focus on quality, safety, and schedule performance, and we are proud to be building a hopper dredge that will support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ mission for years to come. We value the close collaboration with USACE and Royal IHC as we move forward with construction.”
Donnelly is a medium-class hopper dredge that has been under construction since April 2025. The vessel will replace the dredge McFarland and will play a critical role in enabling USACE to continue to deliver its navigation mission and provide for safe, reliable, effective and environmentally sustainable waterborne transportation systems for vital national security, commerce and recreation needs.
The keel laying represents the ceremonial start of a ship’s life by commemorating the assembly of the initial modular construction units. Historically, shipbuilders would carve their initial into the keel to validate that the keel was properly laid and of excellent quality. This was memorialized by welding the ship sponsor’s initials into the keel authentication plate by Eastern welder Trace Taylor. Overseeing the weld was Russ Donnelly, representing the family of Ray Donnelly, the ship sponsor and vessel namesake.
In April 2025, construction of Donnelly commenced with a steel-cutting ceremony, also at Eastern’s Allanton shipyard. Since then, modular construction has been progressing steadily, with unit builds and fabrication and assembly of various key components underway. Work is being carried out in close coordination with the USACE Marine Design Center, Eastern Shipbuilding Group and Royal IHC, the designer of record. The new dredge is on track to be placed into service in fiscal year 2028.
In June 2025, USACE announced the new dredge will be named after the late Ray Donnelly, who retired as chief of resource management for the USACE Philadelphia District in 2020. He previously received the Army Engineer Association’s de Fleury Medal (Bronze Order) in recognition of his 44-year career with both the U.S. Navy and USACE. Donnelly was a key leader in the USACE resource management community and conducted a detailed analysis of the four USACE-owned dredges and the impacts of recapitalization on the national Civil Works program. He was also instrumental in the financial management of the hopper dredge McFarland.
Specifications
• Length: 320 feet
• Beam: 72 feet
• Hull depth: 28 feet
• Draft (hopper empty): 11 feet 3 inches
• Draft (hopper full): 25 feet 6 inches
• Maximum hopper capacity: 6,000 cubic yards
• Maximum dredge depth with suction tube at 45 degrees: 65 feet
– Eastern Shipbuilding Group
