Feature: Halimar Shipyard to the Rescue
In the notoriously cyclical and fickle marine business, it is not surprising that occasionally an owner winds up with unfinished hulls and has to move them to another shipyard for completion. A recent example of this is a contract for five utility boats and one 145-ft. supply boat for use in the Gulf of Mexico. But as they say one man's nightmare is another man's dream. All of the boats had finished hulls, so they could be towed to another shipyard for completion without expensive ground transportation. The owner also had some machinery and parts that he furnished and that was also sent with the hulls in the last quarter of 2002. At about the same time, shipyard management pro Bill Hidalgo, Sr.
The Petroleum Connection
All of the growth markets in the commercial marine marketplace have something to do with petroleum. Supply and crew/supply boats directly support drilling activity and Articulated Tug Barges (ATB) distributes crude, refined or an oil byproduct to refiners or distributors. The ATB represents a big advance in transporting these oil products over a pushboat pushing a tow of petroleum barges. Typically an ATB is one large barge with capacity from 80,000 to 160,000 barrels being pushed by a tug that fits into a notch in the barge. An advanced coupling system permits easy coupling and uncoupling of the two units. With typical barge and pushboat units, the coupling system uses winches and wire ropes to lash the barges together and also secure the barge tow to the pushboat.
