GLDD Takes Delivery Of The Amelia Island
Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC (GLDD) announced August 20 the delivery of its new hopper dredge, the Amelia Island, from Conrad Shipyard in Morgan City, La.
“The Amelia Island supports the company’s vision of continued modernization and diversification of our fleet,” the company said in an August 20 press release. “The Amelia Island is specifically designed for efficient and safe operations along shallow and narrow waters throughout all U.S. coastlines.”
The sixth hopper dredge in the GLDD fleet, the Amelia Island is Jones Act compliant. It boasts a horsepower of 16,500 with EPA Tier IV engines and generators. It measures 346 feet in length and 69 feet wide, with a depth of 23 feet deep. The Amelia Island comes equipped with two 31.5-inch trailing suction pipes for dredging depths up to 100 feet. The dredge has a hopper capacity of 6,330 cubic yards.
“The delivery of our sixth hopper dredge, the Amelia Island, marks a significant milestone as our dredging newbuild program is now complete, leaving us with the largest and most advanced hopper fleet in the United States,” said Lasse Petterson, president and CEO of GLDD. “Engineered with a high level of automation, this vessel is well suited for diverse operations such as beach renourishment, coastal protection, channel deepening and maintenance dredging. Already with a full schedule for 2025 and 2026, the dredge will be going immediately to work.”
The Amelia Island and its sister ship, the Galveston Island, which was christened October 25, 2024, in its namesake city of Galveston, Texas, join GLDD’s fleet of nearly 200 dredging specialized vessels.
2nd Quarter Financial Report
Earlier in August, Great Lakes Dredge & Dock announced its financial results for the second quarter, which ended June 30. Revenue for the second quarter was $193.8 million, with a total operating income of $17.1 million and a net income of $9.7 million. Total contract backlog at the end of the second quarter was $1 billion, with an additional $215.4 million in low bids and options pending award.
“Capital and coastal protection projects account for 93 percent of our dredging backlog, which typically yield higher margins,” Petterson said in the report.
Dredging related to liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects accounts for a significant portion of pending work for GLDD. In the second quarter, the company received the notice to proceed for dredging related to the Woodside Louisiana LNG project. Work on that contract is expected to begin in early 2026.
Additional backlog work includes two contracts awarded in 2023, one for the Port Arthur LNG Phase 1 Project and the other for the Brownsville Ship Channel Project, which is part of NextDecade’s Rio Grande LNG project.
Besides the Amelia Island, GLDD also saw the launch of the Acadia in July, with completion anticipated in the first quarter of 2026. The Acadia will be the first U.S.-flagged, Jones Act-compliant subsea rock installation vessel. The Acadia’s first assignment will be on Equinor’s Empire Wind I project off the coast of New York. Its second job will be working for Orsted’s Sunrise Wind project.
GLDD has been in the midst of a share repurchase program. At the close of the second quarter, the company had repurchased 1.3 million shares for a total expenditure of $11.6 million. Earlier in the quarter, the company also increased its revolving credit facility from $300 million to $330 million.
GLDD’s backlog of $1 billion at the end of June is about $200 million below its backlog at the close of 2024, but the company noted that the second quarter dredging backlog does not include the $215.4 million of awards and options pending.
Capital expenditures in the second quarter included $28.7 million for construction of the Acadia, $19.8 million for the Amelia Island, $8.8 million for support equipment and $7.3 million for maintenance and growth.
Addressing federal funding for waterway projects, GLDD said Congress’s most recent continuing resolution, passed March 15, led to the Corps of Engineers setting funding at the same level as the prior fiscal year. That plus expenditures related to the 2023 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations bill “Should enable us to continue to deliver on a very busy 2025,” the company said in the report. The past two Water Resources and Development Acts and channel deepening projects will also provide long-term growth.
The company also acknowledged the possible slowdown of wind energy projects in the United States.
“In anticipation of potential delays in U.S. offshore wind projects, we proactively expanded the Acadia’s strategic target markets to include oil and gas pipeline protection, power and telecommunications cable protection and international offshore wind,” GLDD said in the financial report. “This diversification increases our opportunities into a broader range of services we now refer to as offshore energy. Our strategy is supported by a global shortage of rock placement vessels, and we are actively pursuing opportunities across these sectors to ensure strong and sustained utilization of the Acadia well into the future.”
————
Feature phot caption: The Amelia Island, the second in a set of hopper dredges built by Conrad Shipyard, was delivered to GLDD. (Photo courtesy of GLDD)
