Maritrans Operating Partners L.P., a subsidiary of Maritrans Inc., has obtained a patent on its proprietary process for rebuilding single hull tank vessels with internal double hulls. Together with M. Daniel Jones of the Houston-based naval architecture firm Schuller & Allan, Maritrans developed an innovative double-hull manufacturing process to rebuild single-hulled tank vessels with the double hulls required by the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The unique process utilizes computer-assisted design for fabricating modular internal hull sections. In 1998, Maritrans used the process to complete the rebuilding of the 10,549 gross-ton tank barge Maritrans 192 (formerly Ocean 192), which marked the first large single hull tank vessel to be rebuilt with a double hull to meet OPA's mandate.
