Steel Deck News

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) announced over $653 million to fund 41 port improvement projects across the nation under the Port Infrastructure Development Program (PIDP).The investments—part of the largest dedicated funding for ports and waterways in history, nearly $17 billion through the President’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law—are intended to help grow capacity and increase efficiency at coastal seaports, Great Lakes ports and inland…

Warren, R.I. shipbuilder Blount Boats said it has been awarded a contract to build a 90-foot icebreaking buoy tender vessel for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. The vessel will be designed by BMT Designers and Planners, Inc. of Arlington, Va.The new vessel will replace the 100-foot, 167-ton M/V J. Millard Tawes commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1942 and in service for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources since 1972. Delivery of the new vessel is scheduled for June 2022.The J. Millard Tawes serves as the primary icebreaking asset for Crisfield Harbor and Smith Island.

Charleston, S.C. repair yard Detyens Shipyards has been awarded a $24,235,291 firm-fixed-price contract for a 120-calendar day shipyard availability for the regular overhaul dry-docking of the U.S. Navy oiler USNS Patuxent (T-AO 201). Work is expected to be complete by October 2020.The contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the total contract value to $27,416,444. The Military Sealift Command is the contracting activity.Work will include main and emergency switchboard cleaning…

Oceaneering International announced Monday that it has taken delivery of a newbuild subsea construction support vessel, Ocean Evolution, built by BAE Systems in the US.The US-flagged, Jones Act-compliant multi-service vessel (MSV) has completed sea trials and received all necessary ABS and U.S. Coast Guard certifications and is currently in Port Fourchon, La., completing final outfitting and preparing for project work scheduled to begin in June.Oceaneering said the vessel is designed…

As vessel many vessel operators are stacking vessels and reducing fleet size, Harvey Gulf International Marine said it has signed four non-cancelable, long-term contracts for stacked vessels and has taken delivery of two new vessels, as well as redelivery of a vessel reconfigured for subsea services. Harvey Gulf announced the signing of long term contracts for the MPSV Harvey Intervention, 175' FSV Harvey Hustler, 180' FSV Harvey Runner and 220' FSV Harvey Express. These charters…

On May 27, at 8:00 PM, the Queen Mary 2 docked at Blohm+Voss at dry dock ELBE 17, well-known to the ocean liner. There, the flagship of the long-established British shipping company Cunard Line will undergo the largest refit program since being brought into service. It is the sixth time that the Queen Mary 2 docks at Blohm+Voss. A total of 50 new cabins are fitted or remodeled in line with this year’s master refit, 35 of them in the front section of deck 13. In addition, Blohm+Voss has prefabricated several steel deck sections with a total weight of approx. 200 tons that will also be installed on deck 13 by the shipyard’s specialists; furthermore, comprehensive modernizations in the hotel, entertainment and gastronomy areas of the ocean liner are part of the current construction schedule.

The crew could not have been separated from the dock for more than an hour. The thick salt air had barely filled their lungs. Cell phone towers in Key West, Florida, were still visible with a squint of an eye. A voice rang out on the back deck, “Two seven zero. Three hundred yards! A crewmember from Coast Guard Tactical Law Enforcement Team South, Miami, had spotted what appeared to be Cuban nationals on a make-shift raft, headed for the U.S. The highly trained law enforcement official was one of two TACLET South team members sent to supplement the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Kathleen Moore, homeported in Key West. A voice rang through the 154-foot cutter, “Now set AMIO phase one!” Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations had begun.

One of the best-known commercial fishing vessels in the world, the Cornelia Marie, has just undergone life-extending surgery. The Bering Sea crabber has gained a wide public following both for the family saga of ownership and for her role in the television series Deadliest Catch that portrays the challenges of one of the world’s toughest fisheries. When Roger Thomas and his partner Kari Toivola began searching for a Bering Sea crab investment, Roger called Casey McManus. Casey has skippered the Cornelia Marie and is a shareholder in the boat. After checking with the other owner, Josh Harris, he got back to Thomas and Toivola with an offer of a 50 percent stake in the famous boat. The two flew to Dutch Harbor in January 2015 to inspect the vessel.

The rocket that tore through a minivan outside the Aden Grand Hotel last week killing nine men, women and children was a clear message that it was time to leave. Yemen's civil war had come too close for comfort. As Shi'ite Muslim fighters closed in on Aden to confront President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi and his supporters, they cut off all escape routes by road and foreigners in the city began jostling for a way out. Workers from the oil, shipping and services industries, as well as doctors, engineers and students made for the old port terminal erected by Aden's colonial British rulers more than 90 years ago. They included Indians, Nepalis, Syrians, Egyptians and Iraqis, as well as British and Americans, some of Yemeni origin.

A reliable solution for response and prevention that can save money, time and regulatory aggravation is here. The threat of oil pollution has long been a problem in the shipping community. You don’t have to look too far to review the myriad of oil spills that have plagued the industry. The Exxon Valdez spill that occurred 25 years ago has recently come to the forefront once again as there is evidence that the ramifications of the spill are still being felt in the fragile eco-system of several Alaska beaches.

The RoRo facility for Berth No. 1, which has been completely refurbished at ADM Kiel by Nobiskrug GmbH, was installed this morning. The pontoon-feeder for the ferry aft ramps weighing 1,800 tons was floated into position and moored. Dr. Dirk Claus, Managing Director at  Seehafen Kiel GmbH & Co. KG, said, “The new RoRo device is another milestone in extending Kiel’s freight and logistic activities. From now on, cargo vessels can be loaded both via the ramp as well as by using two port cranes at Berth No.

After teaching electrical safety for many years, one tends to understand the regulations, and the standards more than the average safety professional. We live them most every day. We also understand what regulations and standards apply to shipyard employment and what regulations and standards apply to industry – and which apply to both. For your safety, you should know about electrical safe work practices and shipboard electrical awareness. If you do not believe that you should know about electrical safe work practices…

OSV Almojil 60 is the first delivery in a pair of sisterships for the Mohammad Al Mojil Group in Saudi Arabia to a design by Wartsilla Ship Design Singapore Pte. Ltd. Construction is to ABS class, with the notation +A1 circle E, +AMS Offshore Support Vessel. Propulsion power comes from a pair of Caterpillar 3512C diesels, each developing 1575hp at 1800rpm, turning 2m diameter fixed pitch four bladed propellers to provide a top speed of 12 knots. Two Caterpillar C6.6 generating sets each developing 170kW provide electric power for onboard systems.

Bisso Towboat Co., Inc. announced the delivery of its new 4,000 HP ASD tractor tug Michael S. Constructed at Main Iron Works, Houma, LA, the 100 by 38 by 13.5-ft Michael S. is powered by two Cat 3516B main engines, producing 2,000 hp each at 1,600 RPM, which drive two Ulstein-Aquamaster US205 MK2 z-drives. The Z-drives feature 90.6 inch diameter by 82.4 inch pitch four blade stainless steel propellers set in stainless steel nozzles and the estimated bollard pull is 60 tons. Electrical service is provided by a pair of 99 KW Marathon Mariner generators powered by John Deere 6068TFM76 engines. Deck equipment includes a Markey DYSF-42 hydraulic bow winch equipped with 500 ft of eight inch circumference Plasma line and a Washington Chain and Supply RSRH100 100-ton quick release tow hook.

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd (Keppel O&M) has secured contracts worth over $20.7 million through its overseas subsidiaries for the upgrade and repair of three semisubmersibles (semis). One of these contracts, secured in the Netherlands, is for the inspection and repair of a semi accommodation rig, COSLRIVAL (ex-Port Reval), from China Oilfield Services Limited. K&O plans to upgrade COSLRIVAL’s electrical switchboards and piping systems and overhaul its marine equipment and deck crane reinforcement.

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company’s latest Incat fast ferry has arrived in her new home waters after completion of a major refit in the United Kingdom. high speed craft on the Irish Sea with greater cruising speed and increased vehicle and passenger capacity than the vessel she replaces. Onboard facilities have been enhanced to include lounges, various bars and eateries, and pre-bookable executive seating which equal or better anything found on similar vessels operating around the British Isles.

You don't really know a boat until she's hauled. Plying her trade on the water, her best half's submerged out of sight. We think we recognize her - "oh, there's Odin," or "Shelby Rose," or "Twintube" - but what are we seeing? The lines of the deckhouse, the shape and placement of the wheelhouse, the arrangement of the stacks? These are the parts known as the superstructure - "super," in this case, meaning simply "upon." It's a little like saying we recognize someone by his hat. The boat's defining structure starts at the main deck and goes downward from there. What little we see of it is low on the horizon. There's the deck's line, along with a smattering of bulwarks.

Harrah’s recently opened a new barge mounted casino at their Joilet, Illinois property on the Des Plaines River near Chicago. The building on a barge replaces two USCG certified vessels that have been at the facility since 1993, the M/V Northern Star, a cruise-ship type vessel, and M/C Southern Star, a sternwheeler. The barges for the new facility were designed by DeJong & Lebet, Inc. Naval Architects, Jacksonville, Florida. DeJong & Lebet, Inc. also designed the two casino vessels that were replaced by the barge-mounted casino. The casino is mounted on two barges, which were built at Halter Marine in Port Bienville, Miss. Each barge measures approximately 200 x 100 x 16 ft. The barges are constructed of steel, except for the main deck, which is a 10.5 in. thick concrete slab.

Shipyards around the world are facing increasingly stringent environmental rules and regulations, adding additional expense to a business sector with an already reputed thin bottom line. Nonetheless, to stay in business shipyards must continuously enhance their capabilities and compliance, in order to successfully woo and complete lucrative jobs. U.S. shipyards have aggressively been augmenting traditional repair expertise with the tools and systems needed to prosper in 2000 and far beyond. The ensuing editorial updates significant activities and enhancements at U.S. ship repair yards. Detyens Shipyards based in North Charleston, S.C., is continuing its upbeat course of developing trusted relationships with customers along the U.S. East Coast — specifically with Hvide Marine, Inc.

The U.S. Coast Guard uses four small steel barges specifically engineered to provide a safe working platform and reduction in pollutants from painting operations during routine maintenance of Coast Guard Cutters. Gone are the days of the staging or boson chair rigged over the side with a crew member wielding chipping iron and paint roller. The U.S. Coast Guard identified the need for an improved system to prevent paint chip and spatter from entering the environment, and after considerable research it was decided to design and construct a steel pilot model Paint Float to provide a safe working platform to conduct topside maintenance. The original float measures 30 x 12 ft. (9 x 3.7 m), with draft of just 1.5 ft. (.5 m) and displacement of 32,000-lbs.

Crowley Marine Services' Energy and Marine Services business unit has successfully moved the 312-ft. square concrete island drilling structure Orlan from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Sovietskaya Gavan in the Russian Far East for Sakhalin I Project operator, Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation. The Orlan (ex Glomar Beaufort Sea I) Concrete Island Drilling System (CIDS) was purchased from Global Marine Drilling Company and will be used for oil production as part of the Sakhalin 1 project, offshore Russia. It was moved from its stack site near Northstar Island, off Prudhoe Bay using two Crowley Sea Victory Class 7,200 bhp twin screw oceangoing tugs with more than 110 tons bollard pull each.

Crowley Marine Services' Energy and Marine Services business unit has successfully moved the 312-ft. (9.5-m) square concrete island drilling structure Orlan from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Sovietskaya Gavan in the Russian Far East for Sakhalin I Project operator, Exxon Neftegas Limited (ENL), a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation. The Orlan (ex Glomar Beaufort Sea I) Concrete Island Drilling System (CIDS) was purchased from Global Marine Drilling Company and will be used for oil production as part of the Sakhalin 1 project, offshore Russia. It was moved from its stack site near Northstar Island, off Prudhoe Bay using two Crowley Sea Victory Class 7,200 bhp twin screw oceangoing tugs with more than 110 tons bollard pull each.

There are several quick conclusions you can draw about passenger boat construction in the new millennium. First it is a smaller market than 10 years ago with far fewer boats being built today than a decade ago. Secondly almost all of these vessels are built on the east or west coast. There are virtually no passenger boats being built in the south. Third, the number one vessel type being built is the ferryboat and more specifically the all-passenger ferry that shuttles people at 25 knots or better. In the years between 1987 and 1993 shipyards all over the country were building 600-passenger excursion-dinner boats in great numbers as sightseeing and dining vessels on America’s great rivers, lakes and bays became increasingly popular.