BAE hosts keel-laying for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock dump scow
BAE Systems Southeast Shipyard Alabama LLC in Mobile this afternoon had a keel-laying ceremony for the first of two dump scows to be built for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co.
The Pinto Island shipyard hosted the traditional keel-laying for the ship, during which Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Vice President of Plant Equipment and Chief Mechanical Engineer Steven Becker welded his initials into a steel panel on the hull of the yet unnamed vessel.
About 200 people gathered at BAE Systems to witness the event for the dump scow, a ship used to transport and dump sediments acquired while dredging waterways.
Construction of the 295-foot-long and 62-foot-wide vessel started last month. The ship is expected to be completed and delivered by April 2013, according to company officials.
BAE Systems received the contract in June from Oak Brook, Ill.-based Great Lakes Dredge & Dock to build the dump scows. The contract also includes the option for the shipyard to build two more.
Construction of the second ship also began last month and it will be delivered in August of next year. The additional dump scows, if built, would be completed in 2014.
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock has had a long history with BAE Systems, using the company when it was Atlantic Marine for the repairs of over 20 vessels.
BAE Systems is located where the Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company sat from 1916 until it reorganized the company in 1983, changing its name to Addsco Industries. In 1988, the company ceased operations and leased the facility to Atlantic Marine, which then acquired the entire company in 1992. Atlantic Marine sold the shipyard to BAE in 2010.
The company has 946 workers at its Mobile yard and expects to reach 2,000 by the end of 2013.
Source: http://blog.al.com/
