Atria Retrofits Its Paraná Push Boat Fleet with Thordon Bearings
One of South America’s leading push boat operators is on its way to completing a fleet-wide retrofit to Thordon’s water lubricated tailshaft and rudder bearings.In 2014, Argentinian owner Atria Logistics UABL, which operates a fleet of workboats on the Paraná River, installed Thordon’s RiverTough tailshaft bearings to its first push boat, the 135-foot-long Concepcion. In 2020, six more vessels in the company’s 26-strong fleet were converted.Egnard Bernal, Thordon Bearing’s Business Development Manager…
Viking Launches Mississippi River Cruises
Viking announced it will launch a Mississippi River cruise line with its first vessel, Viking Mississippi, scheduled to sail voyages on the Lower and Upper Mississippi, between New Orleans and St. Paul from August 2022.Purpose-built for the Mississippi and is currently under construction in Louisiana, the five-deck ship will accommodate 386 passengers in 193 all outside staterooms.“At a time where many of us are at home, looking for inspiration to travel in the future, I am pleased to introduce a new, modern way to explore this great river.
MN100: Robert Allan Ltd.
Prominent on this year's prestigous MarineNews MN100 list is Robert Allan Ltd. Robert Allan Ltd. is a recognized world leader in innovative Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering with a particular focus on harbor and seagoing tugs, shallow draft towing vessels and fireboats for major world ports. Robert Allan Ltd. has won many awards for their design work from a variety of publications and other organizations.The Company:Robert Allan Ltd. is Canada’s most senior consulting Naval Architectural firm, established in Vancouver, B.C. in 1930.
The ABB Electric Tow Boat Beckons to Inland Operators
Long a staple for offshore service providers, a more compact and carefully designed version of the diesel electric option is now available for inland pushboats. For budget conscious operators (and who isn’t, in this environment?), the stars may finally be aligned.For many years, electric propulsion has proven to be a viable propulsion solution for many different types of vessels. Most familiar to workboat stakeholders would be the advent of the ‘diesel electric’ offshore serve providers (OSV) that became commonplace during the offshore boom era. Those vessels operated in a different regulatory environment, with the emphasis more leaning towards operational efficiencies and fuel economy.
Tech File: Vesconite Rudder Bushings
South American river tugboats need robust rudder bushings: some 20 tug boats on the Parana River, running through Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina, have been equipped with Vesconite rudder bushings. In the challenging waters of South American rivers, tugboat owners began ordering Vesconite’s proprietary thermoplastic rudder bushings starting in 2014. Convinced that the material – which is wear resistant, self-lubricating, environmentally-friendly, requires no grease, and easy to machine and fit – was more suitable than the bronze that has traditionally been used in the application…
Three New Ships for American Cruise Lines
U.S. cruise company American Cruise Lines said it is expanding its fleet with the addition of three new cruise ships now under construction Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md. The first of the tree new vessels, American Constellation, will have capacity for 170 passengers and is scheduled to begin cruising in May of 2017. Construction is currently nine weeks ahead of schedule and the ship is now being outfitted with passenger details including marbled tile bathrooms and large sliding glass doors in each stateroom.
Damen Starts Building Two Transshipment Crane Barges
Damen has commenced construction of two identical Crane Barge 6324 vessels. Designed as a particularly cost effective transshipment platform, the barges are being built on a speculative basis in response to client demands to ensure short delivery times. Damen’s Crane Barge 6324 is a low cost transshipment barge designed for ship-to- ship, ship-to- barge or ship-to- quay operations. The design is also suitable for flexible harbour services being able to tranship dry bulk, containers and breakbulk. The 63-metre long vessel boasts 750m 2 of deck space, with additional below-deck lashing stores. “These Crane Barges are perfectly suited for shifting coal, iron and agribulk materials – all of which are internationally important commodities.” comments Design Engineer Hugo Hoekstra.
$13B Needed to Repair US Locks
There are 192 locks on 12,000 miles of American rivers, and most have lived far beyond their life expectancy, the NY Times reported last week. The Times reported that the Army Corps of Engineers estimate it will take $13 billion through 2020 just to fix the decaying locks, most of which were built in the 1930s. “Few people realize the shape our locks and dams are in,” Mike Toohey, the president and chief executive of the Waterways Council, an industry group in Washington, told the Times. Corps officials say it will take until 2090 to complete all the projects without additional funding. The Times reports that over the last decade, the average delay for barges at the Kentucky Dam has grown from less than four hours in 2004 to nearly seven hours today.
Birnbaum Named Director of MMS
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar appointed Liz Birnbaum, an attorney with two decades of federal government and private sector experience in energy and environmental policy, as Director of the Department’s Minerals Management Service. The appointment does not require Senate confirmation. As Director of the Minerals Management Service, Birnbaum administers programs that ensure the effective management of renewable and traditional energy and mineral resources on the nation’s Outer Continental Shelf, including the environmentally safe exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas, and the collection and distribution of revenues for minerals developed on federal and American Indian lands.
Hamburg Süd Christens Largest-ever Containership
At the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd. (DSME) yard in Okpo, Korea, Hamburg Süd christened the largest-ever container ship in the company's history. The "Rio de la Plata" is the first newbuilding in a series of six identical vessels each possessing a slot capacity of 5,900 TEU. At a length of 286 m, the "Rio" class is precisely one bay longer than the 5,552 TEU "Monte" class vessels. Sponsor of the "Rio de la Plata" is Marén Schröder, daughter of Dr. Ernst F. Schröder, personally liable partner of Dr. August Oetker KG, Bielefeld. Following her delivery on 2 April 2008, the "Rio de la Plata" will initially be phased into…
Leaders of the Pack
MarineNews is pleased again this year to showcase the thoughts and opinions of workboat industry luminaries and executives, including: Terry Becker, President, Riverway Co.; Larry Daily, President, Alter Barge Line, Inc.; Cherrie Felder, Vice President, Channel Shipyard Companies; William D. Friedman, Executive Director, Ports of Indiana; Berdon Lawrence, Chairman, Kirby and Peter H. Stephaich, Chairman of Campbell Transportation Company, Inc., and C&C Marine Maintenance, Inc. President Riverway Co. For those who may not be familiar with Riverway Co., we are a "medium" sized barge line that operates approximately 500 barges and eight line haul towboats, moving dry bulk commodities primarily on the Mississippi River and Illinois Waterway.
Oregonian Raises New Questions
An independent review conducted and reported today by the Oregonian concludes that the government’s economic justifications for a controversial proposal to dredge the Columbia River are deeply flawed. The Corps of Engineers wants to spend $196 million to dredge more than 100 miles of the Columbia River. In a three-part series beginning today, the Oregonian will report that deficiencies in the analysis have significantly inflated the benefits to the region and an underestimated the costs to taxpayers. “The Corps of Engineers’ math does not add up,” said David Moryc, Lower Columbia River Coordinator for American Rivers. Since the Corps released their final Environmental Impact Statement in 1999…
Shell Charter Named Asprella
A new 10,000-dwt product carrier specially built with a shallow draft was built at the Frisian Shipyard, Welgelegen in the Netherlands, and named Asprella. The double-hulled vessel, leased from Pritchard Gordon Tankers Ltd. and chartered by Shell, is purpose built for shallow draft trade, and will be employed by Shell for trade on South American Rivers for Shell's activities based in the Caribbean. "Asprella will enable Shell to continue developing its strenght in the niche product market for specailist vessels, thereby adding value to the bottom line," said Jeff Jarman, Shipping Portfolio Manager for Shell Trading, as quoted in the April edition of Shell's house magazine. Asprella was named by Elisabeth De Cuba, wife of John De Cuba, who was, until recently, G.M.
New Towboat Built on Old Hull
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.
CQ River Cruises Cancelled
The Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) issued a Notice stating that it has been notified that CQ River Cruises LLC, doing business as American Rivers Cruise Line, has cancelled all cruises scheduled to commence prior to June 2, 2006. The company operates the river cruise vessel Columbia Queen. The escrow agent has been directed to handle ticket refunds.
American Rivers calls for Review of Corps Studies
Independent review of U.S. by American Rivers to the House of Representatives. The House Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment examined the use of peer review to ensure scientifically and economically sound decision-making at the Corps and other federal agencies. "Independent review, just one of many needed reforms, is necessary to break the agency's disturbing pattern of flawed economic and environmental analysis," said Melissa Samet, senior director of water resources at American Rivers. "The evidence is overwhelming. The demand is mounting. Congress must act to enforce legitimate and meaningful Corps of Engineers reforms, including requiring independent review of costly or controversial Corps projects," Samet said.
CME Creates Computer Simulations of Remote Waterways
A barge transporting a large quantity of petroleum moves slowly down the middle of the Parana River in South America. Though it is early evening, the pilot is enclosed in torrid heat, fetid smells from the jungle's rotting vegetation, rampant palms that reach toward him on each side of the river, and the strange, floating beauty of blue and purple hyacinths, now swaying in his wake. The insect cries are deafening, louder than a New York subway. He does not pause to swat a mosquito, for there are none. Too small for this world, they have themselves been devoured by the far more populous insects half a foot long. Floating beside the barge are frogs larger than a small dog, the easy prey of jacares, another bloated amphibian that can outgrow a crocodile.
