Diesel Propulsion Plant News

Without much fanfare, VT Halter Marine, Gulfport, Miss. is completing a number of very large and capable vessels for both commercial and U. S. Government interests. The company seems on track with the objectives set last year by CEO Boyd E. "Butch" King to add additional projects to their two shipyards located in the Pascagoula, Miss. area. For example, the company will christen the Oscar Dyson October 17. This is a very unique Fisheries Survey Vessel for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a Federal Government agency. The vessel is 208 ft. long with a 49-ft. beam and a relatively deep 28-ft. hull that has a maximum draft of 19 ft.. The Oscar Dyson has a steel, ice-classed hull with an aluminum deckhouse and is anticipated to run at 14 knots.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair of Mobile, Ala., has been awarded the conversion of the 400 x 102 ft. Sea Sorceress. The barge, which will be converted from a manned fuel barge to a DP-II construction barge for Cal Dive International of Houston, Texas, will receive eight 850 kW retractable Z drives. These drives will be powered by four Wärtsilä generators providing 6.6kV of power. A new engine room on the dynamically positioned barge will be used for the vessel's main source of power, as well as ancillary equipment. A 31 x 102 ft. (9.4 x 31 m) stern piece will be removed and replaced by a new stern housing for four of the thrusters - the other four will be positioned forward in the bow.

The cruise vessel Black Watch, built in Helsinki in 1972, will be equipped with a completely new MAN B&W Diesel propulsion plant. On April 19, 2005, the Black Watch of the Red Band AS Shipping company, Norway, will arrive at the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg, where she will be completely renewed within a period of only 57 days, including a 2-day sea trial. Conversion and modernization work is focused on a reduction of the noise and vibration levels, as well as on clearly lower fuel consumption rates of new, state-of-the-art propulsion engines. The shipping company, which is mainly known on the British cruise market, has therefore decided in favor of four new MAN B&W 7L32/40 Diesel engines for the propulsion of the BLACK WATCH.

In August 2002, Transas successfully commissioned its Engine Room Simulator at the Colombo International Nautical and Engineering College in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This is the first Transas simulator installed in this country. The ERS 2000 Version 5.4.2 supplied to the College comprises one instructor station and three interactive trainee workstations with full set of simulator’s modules. The installation was followed by a standard 3-days operational and instructor’s training course organized by Transas specialists. Transas Marine’s ERS 2000 is a PC-based networked simulator, which includes up to 12 interactive Trainee workstations operating under Instructor control and monitoring.

As the sole shipbuilding organization outside eastern Asia with a current involvement in the construction of large LNG carriers, IZAR is determined to maintain a long-term position in a promising, higher value-added field of the newbuild market. The present business profile is based on a series of membrane-type vessels of 138,000-cu. m. capacity, contracted in recent years in the face of fierce international competition and oriental domination of gas tanker production. However, the gathering momentum behind the Spanish group's research and development drive has increased its offering to the LNG transportation sector beyond the impressive new generation of ships now taking form in Sestao and Puerto Real for Spanish and Norwegian interests.

In September 2002, Transas supplied its integrated simulator complex to Azalea Maritime Training Centre in Montenegro, Yugoslavia. According to the contract, the procurement included a Transas Navi-Trainer Professional 3000 navigational bridge simulator with 3 visualisation channels, real bridge consoles and steering equipment. Further, a PC-based networked ERS 2000 engine room simulator with a Ship’s Diesel Propulsion Plant, Ship’s Electric Power Plant and an Auxiliary Systems and Machinery simulator; and liquid cargo handling simulator for onboard operations with Liquefied Natural Gas Cargo are included. The installation work carried out by Transas engineers was followed, as always, by a 3-day training course organized at the premises of the Azalea training center.