HMI Ambrose Channel Makes First New York Harbor Call

Hvide Marine Inc. announced the first visit of HMI Ambrose Channel, named for the USCG lightship that formerly stood watch at the entrance of New York Harbor, to the Port of New York and New Jersey. The vessel, one of the first all-new petrochemical carriers built in the U.S. in nearly two decades, passed through its namesake, the Ambrose Channel, on its way to Stapleton Anchorage. Under the command of veteran Hvide Marine Captain Dave Johnson, the tanker delivered 155,000 barrels of diesel oil from a refinery in Baton Rouge, La. Delivered in January 1999, the vessel complied with the mandate of Congress and the American people to build double-hull tankships to transport petroleum and chemical products in U. S. waters in the safest manner possible. As a result of OPA 90, all single-hull vessels must be phased out of the domestic trade by 2015. HMI Ambrose Channel is equipped with state-of-the-art labor-saving and safety devices, including a Sperry Voyage Management System (VMS), which utilizes electronic charting for navigation. The entire cargo system is hydraulically actuated and consists of individual pumps and valves for each tank, which are controlled from a central cargo control room. Built by Newport News Shipbuilding as the fourth in a series of five double-hull lightship tankers, HMI Ambrose Channel is jointly owned by wholly owned subsidiaries of Hvide and Newport News. She is operated by Hvide Marine and marketed through Hvide's Ocean Specialty Tankers Corporation subsidiary in Houston. HMI Ambrose Channel is a certified IMO Type III Chemical Carrier capable of carrying a wide variety of chemical products in 14 specially coated tanks. Vessel Specifications Length: 619.8 ft. Beam: 105.7 ft. Deadweight/Draft: 45,300 LT @ 40.1 ft. (est.) Speed: 16 knots Cargo Capacity: 341,459 Gross BBLs Tanks/Grades: 7 pairs of tanks port and starboard (14 segregations using two-valve separation)