Muddy Water Christens New Cutter Suction Dredge
Dredge industry newcomer Muddy Water Dredging LP, based in Orange, Texas, held a christening ceremony April 19 on the riverfront in New Orleans for its first vessel, a cutter suction dredge named the Vaneta Marie. The dredge is named for the mother of Michael Kerns, the company’s president and CEO. Kerns is also co-owner of the company with Matt Devall, who formerly served as chief financial officer of Devall Towing.
The dredge was built by Reserve, La.-based DSC Dredge, a designer and manufacturer of cutter suction and underwater pump mining dredges.
Kerns said that when he and Devall formed Muddy Water in 2021 and began discussions to build a dredge with DSC, the approach from the outset was to meet a need in the market and set a new standard for cutterhead dredges.
“Our predominant client is the Corps of Engineers for maintenance and navigation,” Kerns said, “so when I look at the market, the 24-inch maintenance market is what I feel to be underserved. I thought we could really make a difference there.”
Kerns said the Muddy Water team and DSC approached the design with a simple question: “What would make us different from the competition?”
The result is one of the largest cutter suction dredges ever built in the United States, according to DSC and Muddy Water. Including its detachable carriage barge, the Vaneta Marie is 371 feet long. Thanks to its length and spud design, the dredge is capable of dredging a 400-foot-wide cut with an 80-degree swing arc. According to DSC, that amounts to an enhanced productivity rate of 5.9 percent.
Kerns said the Corps offers an incentive for a carriage barge that is a minimum of 20 feet. That word “minimum,” though, didn’t sit well with him.
“We went to the engineers and said, ‘We don’t want to meet the minimum standard. What is the maximum standard we can achieve?’ And so that’s what we’ve got throughout.”
Muddy Water and DSC applied that approach elsewhere on the Vaneta Marie, like with the dredge’s two ladder winches (most cutterhead dredges have just one, Kerns said), and its diesel/electric drive. The Vaneta Marie features Wabtec Tier 4 generators that use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) rather than a urea aftertreatment. Those main engines deliver a total of 9,621 hp.
Dredge machinery is mounted on or above the main deck of the Vaneta Marie, which, according to DSC, eliminates the risk of flooding by dredge pump leaks or failures. Hull voids are equipped with active monitoring to detect water intrusion and limit downtime. Even the dredge’s spuds are designed with safety and efficiency in mind.
“The dredge is equipped with powered lay-down spuds for quick bridge transits and the ability to remove and replace spuds for maintenance without additional support equipment,” said Charlie Johnson, director of domestic dredge sales for DSC.
That also saves time for repositioning the dredge as it’s working. A few minutes here and there may not seem like much, but when multiplied throughout a round-the-clock operation, the production gains will be significant.
“On average, we expect to process about 2,000 cubic yards an hour,” Kerns said. “We’ll be running 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
The Vaneta Marie is also equipped with DSC’s survey-grade system, called DSC Vision, and the company’s Dredge Rx remote monitoring package. Those systems allow the Vaneta Marie’s operators to know the contours of any channel in real time, eliminating the need to stop work and bring in a survey vessel.
“This dredge represents the future of dredging technology,” said Bill Wetta, senior vice president and chief technology officer of DSC Dredge. “Our team was able to combine unparalleled performance with forward-thinking designs. Its launch marks a significant leap forward in our ongoing commitment to revolutionize the industry.”
The Vaneta Marie is the first in what DSC has named its Marlin Class of dredge.
Speaking to friends, family, employees and other stakeholders gathered for the christening, Devall said that while Muddy Water is new to the market, he knows the Vaneta Marie is going to find success.
“At the end of the day, we’re competing against dredges that are 40, 50, 60 years old,” he said. “They don’t have the technology. They don’t have the culture. They don’t have the safety.”
Devall said the company would be bidding on its first job before the end of the month. The Vaneta Marie, Kerns said, will work anywhere from Brownsville, Texas, to the Florida Panhandle, primarily, working for the Galveston, New Orleans and Mobile engineer districts.
“Believe in us,” Devall said. “We’re going to get these jobs.”
Caption for top photo: The dredge Vaneta Marie was built by DSC Dredge for Muddy Water Dredging LP. (Photo by Frank McCormack)
