The US Army Corps of Engineers' (USACE) Marine Design Center (MDC) is managing the procurement of a cutter suction dredger for the nation of Azerbaijan as part of a broader US Department of Defense program to enhance Azerbaijan's maritime security.
The dredger will enable the Coast Guard of the State Border Service to operate its fleet of vessels and maintain access to the harbour entrance and shipping channels of ports located in the Caspian Sea.
The 15-metre vessel will be designed to dredge to a maximum depth of six metres with a 31kW cutterhead and pump the sediment through over 1,000 metres of floating discharge pipe.
In September 2019, the MDC awarded a US$1.2 million contract to DSC Dredge, a small business based in New Orleans, to design and construct the cutter suction dredger.
The contract will be administered in three phases. The first phase is ongoing now and includes engineering and design.
The second phase includes construction and testing at the manufacturer facility in New Orleans and the third phase includes re-assembly and testing in Azerbaijan.
