Andrew Smith News

Fairbanks Morse said it has been selected to build and deliver the main propulsion diesel engines (MPDE) that will power the U.S. Navy’s newest Freedom class Littoral Combat Ship, LCS 27. Construction of the engines will begin later this year, and they are scheduled to be delivered in 2019 to Marinette Marine Corporation in Marinette, Wis., where the new warship is being built. The engine manufacturer will then support installation and testing including sea trials for the vessel. The two 16-cylinder Colt-Pielstick PA6B STC diesel engines will deliver over 12 MW of propulsion power and are among the largest medium speed diesel engines manufactured in the U.S. The U.S.

Navy’s deployed ship in the Middle East, HMAS Arunta, has had its small arms weapons inspected, serviced and certified during a recent port visit. HMAS Arunta is serving on a nine-month Operation MANITOU deployment which has necessitated an all-important maintenance period. With all previous ships only spending six months away, the requirement to have weapons inspected and maintained while in the area of operations had not been required. The fly-away team was required as embarked personnel are not qualified to conduct the tightly-controlled specific technical maintenance which is undertaken by the joint logistic units at Australian major bases in Sydney and Perth.

Eighty-eight Crowley vessels honored with Jones F. Eighty-eight Crowley Maritime Corporation vessels received the Chamber of Shipping of America’s (CSA) annual Jones F. Devlin Award in recognition of their safety records, during a luncheon held last week in New Orleans, La. Each year, the CSA honors manned merchant vessels that have operated for two or more years without incurring a Lost Time Injury (LTI), specifically highlighting the skills and dedication of the crewmembers responsible for safe vessel operations.

Shell Australia has awarded a major contract for the design, construction and operation of three Infield Support Vessels (ISVs), which will create approximately 80 local jobs and support its Prelude FLNG Project, located 475km north-north east of Broome, in Western Australia. Perth-based KT Maritime Services Australia Pty Ltd, a joint venture partnership with KOTUG International B.V and Teekay Shipping Australia Pty Ltd, will supply three 42-meter, 100-metric-ton bollard-pull vessels to assist in product offloading during the operations phase of the project.

A US District Court Class action alleges flesh-eating bacteria lurking In cruise lines' hot tubs. Tab Lankford, who was cruising on the ship Carnival Paradise on December 17, 2011, claims he contracted "hot tub folliculitis" from a Carnival whirlpool. The severe infection nearly cost him his leg. "The entire leg turned black and they wanted to amputate," said his attorney, John Billera. After a week in the hospital and $70,000 in medical bills later, Mr. Lankford's leg was saved, but he still bears the scars from the flesh-eating infection. When Mr. Lankford contacted Carnival regarding his infection, he claims a guest relations specialist told him that there were more than fifty other passengers on the same cruise who came down with the same illness from using the hot tubs.

Shell Australia announced its Geelong Refinery is for sale. The proposed sale of the 120 kb/d refinery is in line with Shell’s global strategy to concentrate investment on large scale sites, such as the company’s world scale Pulau Bukom refinery in Singapore. The announcement underpins Shell’s local strategy to grow its retail and bulk fuels business, along with terminals and pipelines. Shell recognizes that other parties, with a different portfolio, may have a different strategy and want to enter or expand in the Australian refining market.

The captain and crew aboard the tugboat Explorer, which is managed by Crowley Maritime Corp, were recognized by U.S. Coast Guard Rear Admiral William Baumgartner, who serves as commander of the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami, for their humanitarian actions, unwavering determination, professionalism and skilled seamanship after they assisted a vessel that ran out of fuel 30 miles west of Providenciales, Turks and Caicos Islands in December. The Jacksonville-based crew, which included Captain Andrew Smith; David W. Keefe, chief mate; Robert A.