Message From the President
The Manson organization has had an eventful 2026 so far. The hopper dredge FREDERICK PAUP was delivered and has been out dredging since early February. I was fortunate enough to spend some time aboard with the very impressive crew in Pensacola during Safety Week in May.
Our equipment group and many of our Seattle yard craftsmen accomplished the herculean task of completely rebuilding and re-wiring our derrick barge WOTAN, giving it a new life after several years of low occupation on the Gulf coast. Beyond the very unique piledriving capabilities the WOTAN now has, I am particularly proud of the improvements we made to the work, change, and break spaces onboard for the crew and staff.
Upon completion of the rebuild, the WOTAN became the central piece of an armada of vessels we successfully mobilized to Anchorage, AK, in April and May. These tows facilitated the start of two projects: the Port of Alaska Modernization Program Terminal 1 Replacement for the Municipality of Anchorage as part of our Manson-Michels Joint Venture partnership and the Port of Alaska Annual Maintenance Dredging for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District. As I write this, we have three tugs (the PETER M, GLADYS M, and HARRY M), two massive derrick barges (the WOTAN and VALHALLA), and the hopper dredge WESTPORT, all hard at work in Anchorage building and maintaining waterways at the Port of Alaska. There are more than 58 Manson employees working on projects in Anchorage this summer, building critical infrastructure for the benefit of the residents of Alaska, and in support of our national defense.
However, 2026 brought some significant safety challenges as well. After a very rocky April in which we had a number of significant incidents and injuries, I am happy to report we have worked safely for the last two months and look forward to continuing that into the rest of the summer. To stay injury-free this summer will take all of us being vigilant. Three areas of focus for our safety improvement efforts will be eye protection, hand placement, and heat stress. We will also continue to focus on our Life-Saving Rules, learning from SIF events, and engaging in the field to ensure our work is planned to control hazards and that we are following our plan.
Lastly, I would like to acknowledge all those Manson team members who volunteered their time and effort as part of our community engagement efforts this year. We can be very proud not only of the work that we do, but of the positive impact our charitable efforts have had on our communities.
Thank you for your continued dedication to excellence. I wish you and your families a safe and fun summer of 2026.
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