Kvaerner Wins Sealift/ MarAd Contracts

Kvaerner Ships Equipment AB of Gothenburg, Sweden has secured two contracts for vessels being converted and upgraded for operation with the U.S. Navy's Strategic Sealift Command and the Ready Reserve Force. Three former Maersk LClass containerships^Laam Maersk, Liese Maersk and Lica Maersk, undergoing conversion at NASSCO into RoRo containerships for the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command, will be fitted with Kvaernerdesigned hatch covers, hoistable RoRo decks and watertight cargo doors. Meanwhile a team of specialist RoRo engineers from Gothenburg, assisted by Kvaerner Eureka Inc. of New Orleans, recently completed one of Kvaerner Eureka's largest service contracts ever on two former Leif Hoegh RoRos purchased by the Maritime Administration (MarAd) for operation with the Ready Reserve Force.

The vessels involved were the 32,772- grt Cape Wrath (formerly Hual Trader) and the 32,695-g:t Cape Washington (formerly Hual Transporter), built in Gdynia, Poland.

Kvaerner personnel worked on the vessels for three months at Bethlehem Steel's Sparrows Point yard in Maryland, overhauling and upgrading systems.