Steel Cable News

The 46’ x 17.5’ high tunnel catamaran George Ryan recently arrived in Juneau after departing Port Angeles, Washington three days prior. The vessel was built by Armstrong Marine USA for Alaska Tales Whale Watching, located in Juneau. Alaska Tales also operates a 42’ catamaran, Jay Ellis, built by Armstrong in 2017.The 49-passenger + 3 crew USCG Subchapter T vessel pairs speed with stability for the ultimate touring platform. Multiple viewing decks and mitered AJR Marine windows make George Ryan well suited for wildlife watching. Stainless steel cable railings ensure clear views.

Survitec unveiled a new emergency descent system in Bilbao, Spain. Evacuator, dubbed by the company as the world’s first fire-proof emergency descent system, is designed to evacuate people in time-critical emergency situations at altitudes of 6m to 300m. It can be fire-proofed to 1750°C for 30 minutes.The evacuation system is fully mechanical and does not require electricity or any other power to operate. The descent is fully automatic at a controlled speed of one meter per second.

With its “Film Instead of Paint” concept RENOLIT is exploring new horizons in the maritime sector, as the company now plans to enter the renewable energy market with its films. The first step has been made with the use of the flock-film RENOLIT SEAL for an innovative enterprise in Denmark, where the company Wavepiston has developed at similarly-named wave-powered energy generation project. A steel cable is stretched between two anchored buoys. Energy collectors developed by Wavepiston are attached to this cable at intervals of five to six meters.

Hydrex Underwater Technology has assisted an excavation vessel hemorrhaging oil from a stern tube seal entangled with steel wire to pass safely through the Panama Canal. The 156m long, Dutch-owned vessel was unable to make the canal transit until the propeller shaft seal had been repaired, potentially delaying operations and resulting in financial penalty for the owner. Antwerp-headquartered underwater ship repair specialist Hydrex, however, repaired the leaky seal allowing the vessel to continue without disruption to its schedule.

Sanmar’s first VSP (Voith Schneider Propeller) tug, of the new VectRA 3000 series, named Arie A has been constructed for Italian operator Tripmare Spa of Trieste. The vessel has been delivered by a Redwise crew to Ashdod Port, located some 40 kilometers south of Tel Aviv where it will operate. Particular care and attention has been given to the ergonomics of the wheelhouse and the habitability of the crew accommodation, the builder said. VectRA 3000 series has been designed by the Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd.

Sanmar’s first Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) tug of VectRA 3000 series, M/T  ARES, being constructed for Italian tug operator Tripmare S.p.a. of Trieste, has been launched to sea at Sanmar Shipyard, Altinova  last week. The vessel has been carried from the tugboat production hall to the floating dock by the shipyard’s modular transport system. VectRA 3000 series has been designed by the Canadian naval architects Robert Allan Ltd. This design, developed exclusively for Sanmar…

Patterson Manufacturing follows its substantial success in the barge winch markets with an equally impressive boat-to-barge coupling system. In 2008, Pittsburgh-based Patterson Manufacturing Company developed the YoYo Barge Winch, a revolutionary design that reflected a total re-thinking of the way winches do their job. Fast forward to 2015 and the YoYo has penetrated North American inland markets in a big way, in just a few years. Even as the “YoYo” winch has arguably become the inland standard in barge winches – especially considering the 10,000th YoYo unit sale was recorded last year – Patterson has plans to engineer the same sort of revolution in the niche boat-to-barge coupling markets.

Safely, efficiently lifting and handling increasingly heavy loads takes a hefty dose of the latest heavy lift products and systems. Rolls-Royce is a ubiquitous and growing force in all matters maritime, inching toward the one-stop-shop premise. It is particularly well known in the deck machinery sector, and it recently signed a deal with Detroit Chile SA to supply offshore cranes to nine PSVs under construction at Detroit Brasil Ltda. shipyard, in Itajaì, Brazil. The order includes nine ship sets of the dual draglink crane, making 18 cranes in total.

Global safety seal manufacturer Roxtec has completed a project supplying cable and pipe seals to a six level accommodation module on the Golden Eagle development. The living quarters houses 70 self-contained cabins for up to 140 people. It also includes a gymnasium, dining room, offices and a medical suite. The Nexen-operated Golden Eagle development lies about 70km northeast of Aberdeen. The oilfield is due to become operational later this year. Roxtec UK managing director Graham…

Offshore exploration is a history of man v. Prospecting for oil is a dynamic art. From a lake in Ohio, to piers off the California coast in the early 1900s, to the salt marshes of Louisiana in the 1930s, to the first “out-of-sight- of-land” tower in 1947 in the Gulf of Mexico, the modern offshore petroleum industry has inched its way over the last roughly 75 years from 100 ft. of water ever farther into the briny deep, where the biggest platform today, Shell’s Perdido spar, sits in 8,000 ft. of water. As a planet, we have two unquenchable thirsts – for water and for oil.

Blount Boats completed the 85’ Fire Islander in September 2013. The 382-passenger, 2 deck, all aluminum commuter boat will operate between Bay Shore Long Island and Fire Island on Great South Bay, Long Island, New York. The triple screw vessel is powered by Detroit Series 60 Tier II diesel engines, 600 hp each at 2,100 rpm with 2:1 ZF 550 reduction gears. At a displacement of 43.6 tons, she cruises at 19 knots at 70% of her horsepower load at full complement and 24 knots lightship at wide open throttle with very little wake.

Bridging the gap between high-tech synthetic mooring lines and worn or corroded deck and dock equipment. As the marine industry moves from steel cable to synthetic materials for mooring purposes, the logical move also creates new headaches for operators. There are two main reasons for line failure. These include (a.) External Chafing (line interface with surfaces of non-smooth equipment) and (b.) Internal Chafing generated by synthetic core fibers rubbing together and friction generated by the line fibers sliding over one another. Core fibers then melt together, reducing the safety standards and design specifications, sometimes within days of the installation of the new synthetic lines.

Neptune Maritime Security received information via credible channels that the vessel, MV FREE GODDESS (IMO 9107045), has been successfully hijacked by Somali pirates. According to the report Neptune received, the Liberian-flagged bulk carrier came under attack on February 7, 2012, in position 16.03N 062.26E (approximately 520nm NE of Socotra Island) at around 1500 UTC from an unknown number of pirates. Reports state that UKMTO received a call from the CSO of Free Goddess stating that he could not contact the vessel. The Free Goddess was en route from Adabiya, Egypt to Singapore, carrying 19,475mt of steel cable with a crew of 21 Filipinos on board. The vessel is not responding to any calls.

Hayata, LTD., a manufacturer of stainless steel cable ties and banding, has been granted Type Approval status for their products by ABS.  This certification states that ABS visited the facilities in order to carry out a survey of the plant as well as associated quality procedures.  The facility is considered capable of manufacturing a product which meets the designated standards subject to annual facility surveys by ABS.  Hayata has received certificate #HS1971112.

Hayata, LTD., manufacturers of high-quality, stainless steel cable ties and banding, has been granted Type Approval status for their products by ABS. This certification states that ABS did visit the facilities in order to carry out a survey of the plant as well as associated quality procedures. The facility is considered capable of manufacturing a product which meets the designated standards subject to annual facility surveys by ABS. “We were very excited to have ABS come to our Dallas Facility and give us this certification which represents a great deal of work by our team”, said Tom Crouch, founder and President of Hayata. “The high-quality of the products we manufacture and deliver is a direct result of the business practices we put in place on day one…

Smit Salvage has developed a new, patented wreck removal cutting system that is designed to be fast and cost effective, and was used during the successful recovery of the Russian submarine Kursk last year. The new system utilizes a special abrasive cutting wire — a series of grit-covered bushes mounted along a high-tension steel cable. This wire can then be positioned over a wreck and connected up to a drive system producing a sawing motion. Highly efficient, this cutting system can be used as an alternative option to the traditional chain-cutting method that uses heavy steel chains and floating sheerlegs. The cutting system was developed in association with Widia Nederland, a Rotterdam-based manufacturer of tungsten carbide tools, and T.N.O. Nederland.

SMIT Salvage achieved the pollution-free refloating of the product tanker Nino today. This vessel grounded on South Africa’s Wild Coast, around 60 miles north east of East London, on July 18, while carrying a part cargo of 7,700 tonnes of gasoil and gasoline. The vessel went aground at a very remote location. SMIT obtained a LOF/SCOPIC salvage contract and immediately mounted a major casualty and pollution prevention operation. Vessels mobilised in the first few hours included the Wolraad Woltemade – one of the world’s largest salvage tugs, the anchorhandling tug Pentow Service, the environmental patrol vessel S.A. Kuswag 1 and an inshore survey vessel (required to survey the shallow waters around the grounded Nino).

It was supposed to be the world's largest artificial coral reef for scuba diving, located off the coast of Key Largo. More than eight years ago, a group of divers from the area devised a plan to sink a 510-ft. (155.4-m) retired Dock Landing Ship (LSD) to the bottom of 130 ft (39.6 m). of water. For the next several years, Spiegel Grove became Key Largo Chamber of Commerce's pet project. With various local dive shops, businesses and dedicated individuals participating in this venture, the vessel, which had been decommissioned in 1989, was towed last June from the James River Reserve Fleet, to a shipyard in Portsmouth, Va., so that workers could ready the vessel for its intentional sinking.