Stewart Stevenson News

Analysts and commentators are quick to point out that fossil fuels will power maritime equipment, and indeed dominate the fueling marketplace, well into the future. However, they will do so alongside new fuels, and new technologies, that will be introduced to the maritime sector in the coming years. In its September, 2023 report “Beyond the Horizon: View of the Emerging Energy Value Chains”, the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) explains that, “During the recent 80th meeting of the Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC 80)…

The November edition of Marine News magazine highlighted a selection of the most notable American newbuilds delivered of 2023—from a first-of-its-kind green towboat, to the lead vessel in a series of game-changing ships to train U.S. mariners.Empire StateAs the lead vessel in a series of five new training ships being constructed to serve America's state maritime academies, Empire State is easily one of the most important U.S.-built vessels delivered in recent memory.Built by Philly Shipyard for the U.S.

The United States' first plug-in hybrid electric inland towing vessel was christened at a ceremony in Houston on Friday as the commercial marine industry continues to implement new technologies to reduce its environmental footprint.Kirby Inland Marine's Green Diamond will be time chartered by Shell Trading (US) Company, which will use the vessel to push barges throughout the Houston port region. According to Kirby, the vessel can achieve an estimated 80% reduction in fuel use and related emissions.“We are excited to be the first to market with a plug-in hybrid inland towing vessel…

Kirby Corporation announced a net loss attributable to Kirby for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2018 of ($24.4) million, or ($0.41) per share, compared with earnings of $231.3 million, or $3.87 per share, for the 2017 fourth quarter. Excluding certain one-time charges, 2018 fourth quarter net earnings attributable to Kirby were $44.9 million, or $0.75 per share. Consolidated revenues for the 2018 fourth quarter were $721.5 million compared with $708.1 million reported for the 2017 fourth quarter.For the 2018 full year…

Volvo Penta of the Americas  announced the appointment of Stewart & Stevenson as a new Authorized Power Center for the marine industry.Based in Houston, Stewart & Stevenson is a leading provider of specialized equipment, as well as aftermarket parts and service to the global oil and gas, marine, construction, power generation, transportation, material handling, mining, agricultural and other industries.As a Volvo Penta Authorized Power Center, the company will be responsible for…

Kirby Corporation (NYSE: KEX) has announced net earnings attributable to Kirby for the second quarter ended June 30, 2017 of $25.8 million, or $0.48 per share, compared with $38.9 million, or $0.72 per share, for the 2016 second quarter. Second quarter net earnings includes pre-tax expenses of $0.7 million, or approximately $0.01 per share, related to the pending acquisition of Stewart & Stevenson LLC (“S&S”). Consolidated revenues for the 2017 second quarter were $473.3 million compared with $441.6 million reported for the 2016 second quarter.

Houston based tank barge operator Kirby Corporation said it has signed an agreement to acquire the assets and businesses of Stewart & Stevenson LLC for approximately $710 million. The agreement was signed on June 13 by the companies’ executive chairmen, Joseph H. Pyne of Kirby Corporation and Hushang Ansary of Stewart & Stevenson. Kirby said the purchase  will be funded through its revolving credit facility and common stock valued at approximately $355 million. Stewart & Stevenson, also based in Houston, is a subsidiary of the Houston-based Parman Capital Group.

Boston Harbor Cruises’ (BHC) Provincetown fast ferry, Salacia, has returned to service following an almost $3 million engine refit which saw the vessel in dry dock from January through May 2015. BHC commissioned the installation of four MTU 12V4000M64 engines from Stewart & Stevenson Power Products, LLC. The engines were manufactured by Rolls Royce Power Systems subsidiary MTU, and assembled in Friedrichshafen, Germany. The MTU engines will reduce Salacia’s diesel emissions while increasing efficiency and reliability.

Boston Harbor Cruises’ Provincetown Ferry, the Salacia will be drydocked from January thru March 2015 to undergo a $2.6 million dollar engine refit. Boston Harbor Cruises (BHC) has purchased four MTU 12V4000M64 engines from Stewart & Stevenson. The engines, manufactured by Rolls Royce Power Systems subsidiary MTU, and assembled in Friedrichshafen, Germany, have been completed and successfully tested and are currently on a container ship headed for Boston. According to BHC, the Salacia will be the first EPA Tier III Certified Emissions Level vessel operating in Boston Harbor.

Tognum America Inc., a Tognum Group subsidiary and manufacturer of marine and off-highway engines, will supply twelve MTU Series 4000 diesel engines to power six push boats operated by Southern Towing Company, an established inland waterways barge operator on the Mississippi River system and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The high-speed diesel marine propulsion engines from MTU will be used to power four new push boats and repower two older vessels in the company’s fleet. According to William Stegbauer…

Stewart & Stevenson’s C1D1-60 Hazardous Environment Diesel Engine Power Package has received the U.S. Coast Guard Approved stamp per a letter dated September 11, 2009, from S. J. Kelly, Commander, U.S. Coast Guard and Chief, Engineering Division. The C1D1, which features the FM Global tested and approved Electric System EX-FT0480 for the control of the Detroit Diesel Engine S60, has USCG Approval Serial: E2-0902470 for installation in Class 1, Division 1, Groups C & D hazardous weather deck locations onboard Coast Guard certificated Subchapter D & O barges. Owners and operators of inland tank barges transporting combustible cargoes now have available an electronically controlled diesel engine power package that enables them to meet U.S.

Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., New Orleans, La., has shipped the first four of 20 marine models of General Motors totally new EMD 16-265H diesel engines and generators to Yantai Raffles Shipyard PTE, LTD in China for installation in the MV John P. LABORDE. It is the first of five new 282-ft., diesel electric anchor handling/tug supply boats (AH/TS) under construction for Tidewater Marine, Inc., New Orleans, La. The four EMD generator sets in each vessel will produce a total of 24,000 hp (or 17,200 kilowatts of electrical power) required for the boats’ diesel-electric propulsion, dynamic positioning, winching, towing and other systems as well as hotel loads. The generator sets utilize generators manufactured by the Baylor Division of National Oilwell, LP of Houston, Texas.

Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., based in Harvey, La., has delivered a towboat, Espiritu Paraguayo, to Asuncion, Paraguay to Navegacion Paraguaya Americana S.A., a company affiliated with the South American barge line ventures of Allen Mott. This is the third towboat purchased by Mott from Stewart & Stevenson, and the fourth towboat powered by Electro-Motive Division of General Motors (EMD) engines by S&S for Mott and Mott's affiliates. Espiritu Paraguayo was completed using the hull of Senator Eastland, previously owned by Brent Towing Co., Inc., Greenville, Miss., which burned in 1989 on the Arkansas River. After the fire, the vessel was towed to Superior Boat Works, Inc., in Greenville, and the machinery and deckhouse was removed and the hull was painted and stored.

Stewart & Stevenson, a leading manufacturer, distributor and provider of service for industrial and energy related equipment, and a manufacturer of medium tactical vehicles for the U.S. Army, announced that it has signed agreements with Mercury MerCruiser to create regional power centers. Under the agreements, MerCruiser Diesel Power Centers (DPCs) will serve customers in 26 states within the Pacific Northwest, Southeast and South Central United States and MerCruiser Engine Power Centers (EPCs), which deal with gasoline products, will service 19 states within the South Central United States and the Pacific Northwest. The Stewart & Stevenson MerCruiser DPCs will primarily serve the diesel repower market as well as boat builders…

Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., New Orleans, La., has shipped the first four of 20 marine models of General Motors totally new EMD 16-265H diesel engines and generators to Yantai Raffles Shipyard PTE, LTD in China for installation in the MV John P. LABORDE. It is the first of five new 282-ft., diesel electric anchor handling/tug supply boats (AH/TS) under construction for Tidewater Marine, Inc., New Orleans, La. The four EMD generator sets in each vessel will produce a total of 24,000 hp (or 17,200 kilowatts of electrical power) required for the boats' diesel-electric propulsion, dynamic positioning, winching, towing and other systems as well as hotel loads. The generator sets utilize generators manufactured by the Baylor Division of National Oilwell, LP of Houston, Texas.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., has delivered DBL101, the first of four Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA’90) double hull, ocean service, oil tank barges to K-Sea Transportation Corp. While the DBL 101 was in the final stages of construction, Bollinger also retrofitted the K-Sea tug TASMAN SEA with a JAK coupler system, creating an ATB unit. Bollinger and K-Sea announced a newbuilding contract in March 2001, for the series of 4 barges with capacities of 80,000 to 100,000 barrels (BBL). Bollinger Marine Fabricators (BMF), Amelia, La., fabricated modules for the new 400-ft. by 74-ft. by 25-ft., 100,000 BBL barge and shipped them to Bollinger Gretna (Harvey, La.) for final assembly and installation of piping and other systems.

Measuring 175 ft. in length, dinner cruise vessel Starship was recently delivered to Starship Cruise Lines of Biloxi, Miss. Boasting a mega-yacht style, the vessel was designed by Naval Architects Dejong & Lebet of Jacksonville, Fla., and constructed by Freeport, Fla.-based Freeport Shipbuilding. Plachter-Vogel Design provided interior architecture. USCG-Certified under Subchapter K for 600 passengers, plus 30 crew, Starship carries a Stability Letter for Partially Protected waters. The vessel is designed to have a 5-5.6 ft. full load draft enabling it to access some of the Biloxi area's more shallow waterways. The hull features tunnels to allow large enough propellers while minimizing the draft.

The only logical reason the sustained high price per barrel of oil has not already been dubbed "OIL BOOM 2000" is the fact that hindsight is 20/20. Companies that operate, build and supply vessels for the fickle oil patch have seen schizophrenic markets of days past bring industry goliaths to their knees. There remains a reserve among Gulf of Mexico area companies regarding prospects 2000 and beyond, but there is a growing feeling the business - which has largely been dismal since the end of 1997 - is set to embark on one of those notorious end runs that will fill area yards with healthy backlogs for years. The reason for the "look before you leap" attitude is also largely rooted in changing business dynamics which have effectively altered the way in which the world does business.

To say the Gulf of Mexico maritime business had a down year would be a major understatement. But rags-to-riches-to-rags experience of the past has resulted in a consolidated, resourceful group of companies poised to pounce on the next market upturn … which should be very soon. The business trends of consolidation and globalization that have largely defined the late 1990s have touched every level of business in the U.S., including the Gulf of Mexico maritime industry. Companies that had largely depended on "business as usual" are generally out of business today. The result: a resilient industrial base that is poised to prosper in good times and bad. "Business is bad right now, as the oilfield is our primary source of business," said Ralston P.

Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc. recently combined efforts with Detroit Diesel and Hollywood Marine to test a new four-cycle V12-2000 series commercial marine workboat engine package. Advantages of the more compact and durable 2000 series four-cycle engine, include reduced fuel and oil consumption and a noticeably quieter engine due to its triple-wall exhaust system. The new style triple-wall exhaust system also reduces engine room heat. Another advantage of the new series 2000 series engine is that the engine is emission certified, and will meet the future emission requirements of the year 2000 and beyond. "The new Detroit Diesel four-cycle engine is an environmentally friendly marine package…

Biloxi, Miss.-based Starship Cruise Line, Inc. recently appointed Dejong & Lebet, Inc. to design, and Freeport Shipbuilding, Inc. to construct a 175 ft. yacht styled dinner/cruise vessel. M/V Starship will be docked on Biloxi's Back Bay and "Gold Coast" beaches. Interior design will be provided by Plachter-Vogel Design. The shallow-draft, Subchapter K-classed vessel will hold up to 600 passengers and will be powered by two Stewart & Stevenson Series 600 main engines at 40 hp each, as well as twin 275 kW generators.

Bender Shipbuilding and Repair Co., and Otto Candies have signed a contract for three 150 ft. (45.7 m) Anchor Handling Tugs to be constructed by the Mobile, Ala., shipbuilding company. The contract, which requires the trio of vessels to be delivered in 2000, also grants Otto Candies an option to purchase five more identical tugs. Measuring 150 x 50 x 21 ft. (45.7 x 15.2 x 6.4 m), with a 10,000-hp capacity, the vessels hold a Stewart & Stevenson triple screw propulsion system, with two EMD diesel engines driving outboard Aquamaster Z-drives and one EMD diesel engine through a Reintjes reverse reduction gear. Deck machinery aboard the tug group will consist of a SMATCO line pull Double Drum Reverse Waterfall Towing/Anchor Handling Winch; two SMATCO tuggers rated at 20,000 lbs.

Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., announced that the company's Distributed Energy Solutions Division in Houston has successfully completed production and testing on four high voltage emergency generator sets for the U.S. Navy's next nuclear aircraft carrier. Delivery of the first pair was made in May of 2003 and the second pair is more than a year ahead of schedule. The Nimitz Class carrier, originally designated CVN77 and later named the USS George H.W. Bush in a Pentagon ceremony in early December 2002, is under construction at Northrop Grumman Newport News in Virginia. The carrier will rely on backup power provided by Emergency Diesel Generator (EDG) sets produced by Stewart & Stevenson.