Page 19: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2024)

though it will actually did work from

Bill, can you give us a short over-

Galveston all the way to Pensacola. Most view of the company, its capabilities of the contract dredges, if not all that op- and a ‘by-the-numbers’ look at the erate in the United States now, were either company today.

built as a copy of something or converted.

DSC is a family-owned dredge manu-

The market for this dredge is a market facturer, probably the largest dredge where we’re doing mostly navigational manufacturer currently in the United maintenance-type work, where material

States. We employ almost 300 employ- ees and more than 50-plus contractors. is not that deep, but it tends to be more

My dad started a company that became in the corners of the channel, where

DSC back in the ‘70s, but my brother movement becomes really important.

To start, we met with the client that and I have been running the company owns this dredge and they wanted to since the 1990s.

Today we’ve got four mining dredges be able to dig depths to accomodate the new Panamax ships. They wanted the [under construction] that are all US- based; ? ve navigational dredges under machine to be ‘green,’ so the machine incorporates the latest Wabtec Tier 4 construction, four of which are interna- tional; seven reclamation dredges under diesel engines, engines that do not re- quire any diesel exhaust ? uid system so construction, six of which are interna- they’re green right out the box without tional; three contractor general construc- any add-ons.

BILL WETTA, tion dredges, which are all domestic; and

The dredge, because it’s diesel-electric,

SENIOR VP OF PRODUCT a number of upgrades for legacy equip- can take power from the grid; so this ment. In short, we have a workload that’s

DEVELOPMENT & CTO, machine could run strictly off of an um- active through 2027.

DSC DREDGE bilical cord. Because we’re in a hurricane area, it’s also designed so we can export

The dredging market in and around the US has been on a bull run for many years and counting. When you look at your business today and you look down the road, what do you see?

Two big things jump out. One, every- one is concerned with safety and risk.

There’s a big push to either eliminate or reduce the number of people involved around and on a dredge, which leads to automation and robotic technology.

Also, everyone is concerned about mak- ing the planet ‘greener’ and dredging more ef? cient; there’s a move away from traditional fuels to electric sys- tems, hybrid systems, or cleaner burning fuel systems.

You recently delivered the new

CSD Vaneta Marie to Muddy Water

Dredging. In the press announc- ing the unit you said, and I quote, “This dredge represents the future of dredging technology.”

Vaneta Marie was speci? cally built for a certain set of projects in the Gulf Coast area, primarily the Calcasieu River, al- www.marinetechnologynews.com 19

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