Slidell News

Not every vessel in the U.S. Navy is built for major combat operations on the high seas. There are large numbers of boats and service craft that provide essential services to the sea services, the nation and its partners.The U.S. Navy procures about 100 small boats per year. Some of these boats are based on commercial designs, procured to a Navy developed specification that tailors the requirements to the end user needs. They are procured and managed by two Naval Sea Systems Command program offices—PMS 300 and PMS 325.Compared to warships and auxiliaries…

The U.S. Navy announced it accepted delivery of the next-generation landing craft, Ship to Shore Connector (SSC), Landing Craft, Air Cushion (LCAC) 105, March 8.LCACs are built with configurations, dimensions, and clearances similar to the legacy LCACs they replace – ensuring that this latest air cushion vehicle is fully compatible with existing well deck-equipped amphibious ships, the Expeditionary Sea Base and the Expeditionary Transfer Dock. LCACs are capable of carrying a 60-75 ton payload.

My first visit in 2007 to the American Society of Naval Engineers’ (ASNE) Multi-Agency Craft Conference (MACC) was an eye-opener. Having built a naval architecture career with frigates, destroyers and other large naval and commercial ships, I was eager to learn of the smaller craft used by the U.S. Navy and other government and military bodies. As my flight into Norfolk, Va. descended over Chesapeake Bay, I gazed in amazement as a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) raced toward Virginia Beach, slowed, glided up the beach and into its shore base.

Poor communication led to a tow striking a railway swing bridge near Slidell, La., the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said in Marine Investigation Report released Thursday.On January 12, 2021, an empty hopper barge being pushed by the Robert Cenac struck the CSX Rigolets railway swing bridge while it was opening. The bridge sustained damage estimated at $1.1 million and the barge sustained minor damage estimated at $5,000. No injuries or pollution were reported.The pilot of the Robert Cenac called the bridge operator around 10:31 p.m. CST to request the bridge to be opened.

Sparrows Group has become the first authorized external service provider for Dana’s Brevini winch and hoisting products in the USA.The agreement will see the engineering and equipment specialist sell and service Dana’s hydraulic and winch product lines and is a further step in Sparrows’ long-term growth strategy for the industrial and marine sectors.Dana currently operates in 34 countries with 149 major facilities globally. The company’s Brevini brand designs and produces a range of gearboxes and hydraulic and electric components that are used in plants, ports and vessels around the world.

Marcon International, Inc. of Coupeville, Washington, says it has sold the U.S. flag ocean-going twin screw tug "Melvin E. Lemmerhirt" to U.S. buyers on a private & confidential basis. The 3,900BHP tug was built in 1973 for Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Co. as one of the company's largest tugs by Southern Shipbuilding of Slidell, Louisianaas Hull No. 102. Southern Ship always had a reputation of building fine tugs, building their first in 1903. The shipyard was originally established by Fritz Salmen in the 1880s, becoming Slidell Shipbuilding in 1914 and Canulette Shipbuilding in 1919. After passing through several hands, it was renamed Southern Shipbuilding in 1957. The yard was eventually closed and the site razed in 1993.

Dometic Marine established a new base in the Gulf of Mexico as part of its strategy to target further business in the commercial sector. The addition of the facility in Slidell, La. to its extensive global network places the HVAC and toilet systems specialist at the heart of the United States’ commercial market. Driven by the current boom in the oil and gas industry, the shipyards are facing a surge in demand for oilfield-related orders including Offshore Support Vessels (OSVs) and Dometic Marine is now perfectly positioned to respond to the needs of Gulf shipyards, according to the company.

The Navy awards a $212 million contract for Textron Inc. In March 2011 a solicitation for Ship-to-Shore-Connector landing craft was issued  by the U.S. Navy’s Naval Sea Systems Command. The request for proposals began the process of building a replacement for the Landing Craft Air Cushion amphibious craft that first entered service in the mid-1980s. The office of Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said the contract includes options that could make it worth as much as $570 million. Landrieu’s office said Textron will build a boat at its Slidell facility with a 30-year service life capable of carrying a 74-ton payload and traveling at speeds of more than 35 knots. Sen.

Participants at a workshop exploring the use of titanium structure for ships found that it is not only possible to construct a ship hull from titanium—or Ti, it could be cost effective. The workshop was sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and hosted by the University of New Orleans, where an ONR research program on titanium ship structures is being conducted. Representatives of the shipbuilding industry, titanium suppliers, Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force labs, and academia discussed and examined materials, processes and applications. Most ships today are primarily made from steel.

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., is being awarded a $321,725,461 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-08-C-2217) for the exercise of construction options for Joint High Speed Vessels 8 and 9. The JHSV will provide high speed, shallow draft transportation capability to support the intra-theater maneuver of personnel, supplies, and equipment for the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army. Work will be performed in Mobile, Ala. (48 percent); Pittsfield, Mass. (9 percent); Franklin, Mass. (3 percent); Philadelphia, Pa. (3 percent); Atlanta, Ga. (2 percent); Chicago, Ill. (2 percent); Gulfport, Miss. (2 percent); Slidell, La. (1 percent); Iron Mountain, Mich. (1 percent); Houston, Texas (1 percent); Dallas, Texas (1 percent); Chesapeake, Va. (1 percent); Milwaukee, Wis.

1882-An Act of Congress (22 Stat. 1932- Northern Pacific Halibut Act re-enacted Act of 7 June 1924, after Convention with Canada and made it unlawful to catch halibut between 1st November and 15th February each year in territorial waters of United States and Canada and on high seas, extending westerly from them, including the Bering Sea. Coast Guard enforced this Act. 1942-Coast Guard plane V-167 rescued two from a torpedoed freighter. 1942-Coast Guard prewar search and rescue procedure discontinued for security reasons. 1943-CG-58012 exploded and sank off Manomet Point, Massachusetts. No lives lost. 1995-Part of the Upper Mississippi and Missouri Rivers rose above the flood stage, flooding areas in Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky.

Few would argue with the notion that a healthy commercial marine industry needs new naval architects entering the business of designing and engineering ships and offshore structures. New naval architects bring new technology and a fresh way of looking at old problems. The University of New Orleans School of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME) produces a dozen or so people per year who have mastered this very difficult subject. At any given time UNO has about 145 people enrolled in the NAME program leading to a Bachelor's degree, the most students in any program of its kind. The school also offers Master's and Doctorate degrees in the field. There are currently 18 students in the MS program and three in the aspiring Ph.D candidates. The first Ph.D was graduated in May 2003.

“One of the really gratifying aspects of ship repair and conversion is the satisfaction we get by being able to give new service life to vessels. And that’s exactly what we did with the 40 year-old Guardian, said Allen Stein, operations manager of Bollinger Quick Repair, in Harvey, Louisiana. The 150- by 35- by 20-ft. Guardian, originally named Gale B. was built by Southern Shipyard in Slidell, La., in 1963. It was owned by Midland Enterprises (Ohio River Company) and was part of a tug/barge unit with the hopper barge Martha B.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., will relocate its research and development engineering office from Slidell, La., and shift the Bollinger high-speed vessels group from Lockport, to the James Business Park in St. Rose, La., in October 2004. Mike Ellis, Bollinger executive vice-president and chief operating officer said, "This new location in St. Rose will not only help us better serve our current shipyards from a design and engineering standpoint, but it will also help us attract potential employees to fill our future growth plans. The Slidell research and development office, Bollinger Northshore Engineering, about 45 miles east of the new facility, opened about five years ago. It creates and develops innovative design solutions for commercial and government clients.

Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La. has added a 220 class offshore supply vessel (OSV) to the company’s continually growing series of OSV’s that provide cargo capacities of much larger vessels while lowering operating costs. Scott Theriot, executive vice president, New Construction said, “Just as our 145 and 166-ft. class boats have capacities of larger OSV’s, this new 220 class has the cargo and drilling muds capacities of vessels up to 240-ft. MNM Boats of Golden Meadow, La., a subsidiary of C&G Boats, has signed a contract for the first of two new 220 designs and will take delivery of the first boat in October 2002 and the second vessel in January 2003.

Bouchard Coatwise Management, Corp., Hicksville, N.Y., one of the largest operators of double hull articulated tug/barge ATB units in the U.S., has joined the list of Bollinger Shipyards, Inc. customers with the signing of a contract for Bollinger to build two 6,000 HP tugs, and two double-hull, clean product ocean-going barges that meet the requirements of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA ’90). One will have a 110,000-barrel capacity and the other will be able to carry 135,000 barrels. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. The tugs will be built at Bollinger’s Lockport, La., division and the barges will be constructed at Bollinger-Gretna in Harvey, La.

Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La. has added a 220 class offshore supply vessel (OSV) to the company's continually growing series of OSV's that provide cargo capacities of much larger vessels while lowering operating costs. Scott Theriot, executive vice president, New Construction said, "Just as our 145 and 166-ft. class boats have capacities of larger OSV's, this new 220 class has the cargo and drilling muds capacities of vessels up to 240-ft. MNM Boats of Golden Meadow, La., a subsidiary of C&G Boats, has signed a contract for the first of two new 220 designs and will take delivery of the first boat in October 2002 and the second vessel in January 2003.

The movement of petroleum products on the nation's rivers, lakes, bays and oceans is soon to be regulated of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. Called OPA 90, this regulation requires many bulk carriers of petroleum products to use double-hulled barges to haul their cargo by 2005 and all to be doubled hulled by 2015. Looking first at the large product tankers and crude oil carriers, 23 product carriers and 17 crude oil carriers must be double hulled by 2005, another 20 product carriers and 17 crude oil tankers need to be double hulled by 2010 and another 13 product and 9 crude oil ships need to meet OPA 90 by 2015. These conversions (or ship retirements) are a major issue impacting the ability of the U.S. to transport crude oil and its refined products.

Boats and vessels sunk by Hurricane Katrina soon will be removed by the Coast Guard in 10 St. Tammany Parish waterways, according to Parish President Kevin Davis. The project by the Coast Guard will begin before the end of the month, he said, and will be limited to waterways defined as commercially navigable under federal codes. But it will result in sunken vessels and other debris being removed from major canals and streams that help drain the parish, Davis said. Davis said the Coast Guard has agreed to clear Salt Bayou, the Rigolets, the Pearl and Tchefuncte rivers, and bayous Liberty and Bonfouca. The Coast Guard also will unclog the North Shore, Geohagen, Oyster Factory and East Diversion canals, Davis said.

Boats and vessels sunk by Hurricane Katrina soon will be removed by the Coast Guard in 10 St. Tammany Parish waterways. The project by the Coast Guard will begin before the end of the month and will be limited to waterways defined as commercially navigable under federal codes. But it will result in sunken vessels and other debris being removed from major canals and streams that help drain the parish. The Coast Guard has agreed to clear Salt Bayou, the Rigolets, the Pearl and Tchefuncte rivers, and bayous Liberty and Bonfouca. The Coast Guard also will unclog the North Shore, Geohagen, Oyster Factory and East Diversion canals. In addition to the Coast Guard…

The O’Brien’s Group celebrated the grand opening of a new state-of-the-art Command Post and Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Slidell, La. O’Brien’s previous Command Center was destroyed when Hurricane Katrina devastated the New Orleans area in 2005. The Command Center has been the foundation for O’Brien’s emergency response management services, which are provided to over 150 oil and gas company clients, as well as local, state and federal agencies. O’Brien’s also provides Qualified Individual (QI) and Spill Management Team (SMT) services to the shipping industry representing over 5,000 ships operating in U.S. territorial seas. Emergency calls received by O’Brien’s clients worldwide are managed from the Slidell Command Post and EOC.

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.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., which owns and operates nine shipyards in Louisiana, will open a satellite marine engineering and naval architecture office in Slidell, La., to accommodate increasing business, expanding product lines and planned new services. The office will be managed by Jude McDonald, a 30-year veteran in the marine industry. The facility will be linked to Bollinger's main engineering and design offices in Lockport via computers on a real-time basis for a seamless integration into the company's wide area netwodk and Oracle-based Enterprise Resource Planning system. The new specialized staff, which will include technical writers and sales personnel…