The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Vicksburg District will follow a maritime tradition Wednesday with a blessing of the fleet to signal the Corps’ mat sinking unit, leaving port for its annual revetment season.

The ceremony will be 10 a.m. at City Front as the unit departs for its mission.

The Blessing of the Fleet is a centuries-old tradition originating in southern European and predominantly Catholic fishing communities. A blessing from the local priest was meant to ensure a safe and bountiful season.

The mat sinking unit, or MSU, is the only one of its kind in the world and performs one of the most important jobs in the Corps’ river stabilization program, by placing articulated concrete mats along the river banks of the Mississippi River to control erosion in the district, which encompasses a 68,000-square-mile area across portions of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana that holds seven major river basins and incorporates approximately 460 miles of mainline levees.

Its fleet consists of towboats, quarter boats, and a dredge, including the motor vessels Benyaurd, William James and Harrison, and other vessels.

The MSU is known as a floating city that houses and feeds its employees and has the capabilities to provide all of the electricity and potable water needed.

Inland waterway navigation is a crucial mission for the Corps. The MSU’s responsibilities are to maintain more than 800 miles of navigable channels and harbors to ensure safe, cost-effective, dependable, and environmentally sustainable transportation of vessels within our country’s inland waterways.