Conrad Shipyard, Morgan City, La., announced today that it has been awarded a contract to build four anchor barges, two deck barges, and three crane barges for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. LLC (GLDD), Oak Brook, Ill. The four anchor barges will be built at Conrad’s Morgan City shipyard, and the deck and crane barges will be built at its shipyard in Orange, Texas.

Conrad senior vice president and director Dan Conrad made the announcement: “We have delivered seven vessels to GLDD since 2003 and deeply appreciate their confidence in our company by awarding these new contracts,” he said in a prepared statement. “Our engineering, sales and management teams have worked closely with GLDD to design these vessels to their exact specifications and to meet their critical delivery schedule.”

“This new construction contract is right in our wheelhouse,” executive vice president and chief operating officer, Scott Theriot, said concerning the complexity of the project:. “We are extremely well positioned for serial production of specialty barges at multiple locations. We have the capacity, the high-tech ship manufacturing equipment, and a seasoned workforce and hands-on project management teams tightly focused on quality.”

Theriot reported that the four anchor barges and two deck barges are scheduled for delivery during the first and second quarters of 2018. The three crane barges are scheduled for delivery in quarters two and three of 2018. No other details were forthcoming.

GLDD, founded in 1890, has built and maintained much of the U.S.’s navigation system, protected its shorelines, restored sensitive habitats, and created other critical aquatic infrastructure. The international company is a full-service provider of infrastructure solutions, including dredging, environmental remediation, and geotechnical services, the Conrad announcement said.

Conrad Shipyards, a public company, was established in 1948 and is headquartered in Morgan City, La. The company designs, builds and overhauls tugboats, ferries, liftboats, barges, offshore supply vessels and other steel and aluminum products for both commercial and government markets. The company provides both repair and new construction services at its five Gulf Coast shipyards located in southern Louisiana and Texas.