Bender Shipbuilding Repair Co Inc News

Albacore Research Ltd (ARL) has announced that its ShipConstructor software has been named design software-of-choice under the Second-Tier Shipyard Design Enhancement Program, which was recently granted funding under the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise initiative. The NSRP Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise is a collaborative program aimed at boosting productivity among U.S. first- and second-tier shipbuilding and repair yards. Recent project awards included $1.25 million for the development of standard shared CAD software for commonality of designs of critical components such as HVAC and piping systems and creation of a common parts catalogue.

Herschel T. Vinyard, Jr., Vice President of Atlantic Marine Holding Company, was elected Chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA). Mr. Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. Cherrie Felder, Channel Shipyards, New Orleans was elected Vice Chairwoman. SCA is the largest and most broadly-based national trade association representing the U.S. shipyard industry. SCA members build, repair and service America's fleet of commercial and small and mid-sized government vessels. The Council represents 52 companies that own and operate over 120 shipyards in 23 states, with facilities on all three U.S. coasts, the Great Lakes and the inland waterways system. SCA also represents 28 affiliate members that provide goods and services to the shipyard industry.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. of Mobile, Ala.has announced the opening of Astilleros Bender S. De R.L. De C.V. in Tampico, Mexico. Astilleros Bender is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bender. The shipyard is located on the south side of the Panuco River 10 km upstream from the Gulf o Mexico and across the city of Tampico. The yard consists of 125 acres of land and 3000 ft. of river frontage accessed by 28 ft. deep maintained channel. Astilleros Bender currently is concentrating on ship repair and has in operation a 3000 ton lift capacity dry dco and some 1,500 feet of river side repair facility open for business.

Larry Rigdon, President and CEO of Rigdon Marine, said that the second vessel in its 10 vessel contract has been delivered by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. of Mobile, Alabama. The M/V Bourbon was issued a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation (COD) for coastwise trade in the United States and is fully classed by the American Bureau of Shipping for international operations. The M/V Bourbon was immediately deployed to a major oil company for work in the Gulf of Mexico after its christening by Mrs. Maxine Rigdon, mother of Larry Rigdon.

Larry Rigdon, President and CEO of Rigdon Marine, said that the second vessel in its 10 vessel contract has been delivered by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. of Mobile, Alabama. The M/V Bourbon was issued a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation (COD) for coastwise trade in the United States and is fully classed by the American Bureau of Shipping for international operations. The M/V Bourbon was immediately deployed to a major oil company for work in the Gulf of Mexico after its christening by Mrs. Maxine Rigdon, mother of Larry Rigdon. The M/V Bourbon like its sister vessel, the M/V Orleans, is a 210 x 54 x 19-ft.

Senator Jeff Sessions announced that Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. has been awarded a contract for the drydocking of the USS Ticonderoga, the Navy’s first Aegis Cruiser, presently homeported in Pascagoula, Miss. The vessel’s overhaul is being managed by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion in Pascagoula, Miss. for the Department of the Navy. The repairs are scheduled to being in February 2002. The work package includes rudder, shafting, valve, structural and electrical repairs as well as major preservation items that presently total approximately $8 million; employing approximately 125 shipyard workers at the peak of the 120-day contract. Bender has the option pricing in place for additional work that could bring the total package to almost $16 million.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, Ala., is being awarded an $8,075,500 firm-fixed-price contract for the dry docking selected restricted availability of USS Stephen W. Groves (FFG 29). Work will be performed in Mobile and is to be completed by November 2002. Contract funds in the amount of $7,962,443 will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured and advertised in the Commerce Business Daily, with three proposals solicited and two offers received. The Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair, Pascagoula, Miss., is the contracting activity.

Congressman Sonny Callahan announced that Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. recently signed a contract for the drydocking and repair of the USS Stephan W. Groves (FFG 29). The Groves is an Oliver Hazard Perry Class Guided Missile Frigate homeported in Pacagoula, Miss. The vessel’s overhaul is being managed by the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, Conversion and Repair in Pascagoula for the Department of the Navy. The Groves will arrive at Bender on July 31 for a drydocking scheduled in early August and completion in mid-November. The work package includes drydocking, hull, machinery, electrical, electronics and piping repairs with a contract value of $8 million plus optional items which could result in an additional $1.5 million. The job will require 125 workers.

Larry Rigdon, President and CEO of Rigdon Marine, said that the fourth vessel in its ten vessel contract has been delivered by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. of Mobile, Alabama. The M/V Chartes was issued a United States Coast Guard Certificate of Documentation (COD) for coastwise trade in the United States and is fully classed by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for international operations. Ms. Mary Rivers, Executive Assistant to Mr. Larry Rigdon since 1995, christened the M/V Chartes at Bender. “I am honored that Mr. Rigdon selected me to christen the ‘Chartres’ and introduce this new vessel into the most technologically advanced fleet now operating in the Gulf of Mexico,” Ms. Rivers said upon breaking the traditional champagne bottle against the ship’s hull.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., signed a contract with Pemex, the national oil company of Mexico, for the repair, refurbishment and dry docking of Pemex’s semi-submersible accommodation/maintenance vessel, the PSS Chemul. The 13,000 ton Chemul was recently drydocked in Mobile on the Mobile Heavy Lifter, a submersible heavy lift barge chartered in by Bender for the docking of the semi. Chemul was then towed to the work site at Bender's Yard 9, located on the east side of the Mobile River. "This contract represents Bender's entry into this class of repair work on offshore rigs and vessels and we are very appreciative of Pemex's confidence in Bender for awarding us this job,” said Tom Bender, company president.

The development of key features in ShipConstructor will be funded by the Second-Tier Shipyard Design Enhancement Project II, which recently received significant funding from the National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Advanced Shipbuilding Enterprise. The project, headed by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., includes seven shipyards and four naval architect firms, representing the core of second-tier shipbuilding and ship design in the United States. The overall goal of the project is to provide U.S. second-tier shipyards with a state-of-the-art design system that will enhance their global competitiveness. Albacore Research Ltd. (ARL) will extend ShipConstructor’s capabilities to fully meet the design requirements of the U.S. second-tier shipyard industry.

Trico Marine Services, Inc. has reached an agreement to build two GPA 640, 210-ft. offshore supply vessels for a total cost of approximately $35m. The vessels will have diesel electric propulsion and class 2 dynamic positioning systems. Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. will build the vessels at its shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, with an expected delivery date for the first vessel in March 2008 and the second vessel in July 2008. The agreement guarantees the construction costs of the vessels as well as technical specifications and contains penalties for late delivery. Trico expects to fund construction costs related to each vessel from cash and cash flow from operations. These vessels incorporate an additional deck level for increased accommodation of client personnel.

The U.S. Navy has awarded an $116,100 contract to PPG Industries Inc., Huntsville, for windshield assemblies. The contract was awarded by the Naval Inventory Control Point, Philadelphia. Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, has been awarded a contract from the U.S. Navy's Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington Navy Yard, D.C., for the missile range instrumentation ship T-AGM(R) concept preliminary design. No contract amount was specified ($0).

On November 17, Mobile, Alabama-based Austal USA celebrated the grand opening of its new construction facility with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. This event took place just 11 months to the day after breaking ground on the project on January 17, 2005. Several notable VIPs participated in the ceremony, including: State of Alabama Director of Development Neal Wade, Mobile County Commission President Mike Dean, Mobile Mayor Sam Jones, John Rothwell (Austal Ltd. Executive Chairman), Greg Metcalf (CEO, Austal USA), Tom Bender (CEO, Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc.) and Henry Seawell (CEO, Thompson Engineering, the company that was contracted for the design and construction of the expansion).

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. and Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair Company have promoted Michael Pinkham to Ship Repair Sales Manager for both the Mobile and Tampa yards. The Sales and Marketing Departments of both companies have been combined to more efficiently and economically service customer accounts. Pinkham brings his many years of ship repair sales, production and estimating experience to this position. He will be responsible for coordinating the efforts of Sales currently working for both yards in the domestic market, as well as coordinating opportunities from the international markets.

When Austal Ltd. of Henderson, Western Australia, started looking last year for a CEO to lead its U.S.-based operations, the job description must have been daunting. They wanted a leader to take the helm of their newly built shipyard in Mobile, Ala., and turn it into a major contractor for both military and commercial vessels in the United States. Austal had recently entered the U.S. market for the first time, intent on competing with higher-profile rivals such as Incat/Bollinger, Derecktor Shipyards and Kvaerner. The company settled on Alan Lerchbacker, 50, an energetic former Navy Aquanaut with a business background, who took the position in February 2002. Lerchbacker had never heard of Austal until a headhunter contacted him.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. will build three tug barges worth $232.5 million for Maritrans Inc. Each articulated tug barge unit, a powerful 12,000-hp workboat, will be worth $77.5 million and able to carry 335,000 barrels of liquid petroleum products. The first unit should be delivered in October 2007, and the others will follow in May and December 2008, according to Maritrans, a Tampa-based marine petroleum transportation company. Each of the units include a tug and barge joined by a pin system that allows the connection to stay intact even in rough seas. Bender's shipyard was up and running at full capacity Tuesday after sustaining "little damage" from Hurricane Katrina.

With a history spanning three generations and more than 80 years, Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. is quite the familiar face in the Gulf Coast marketplace. Tracing origins back to 1919, when Theodore Jackson (T.J.) Bender, armed with knowledge from his apprenticeship at Ollinger Iron Works, formed Bender Welding and Machine Company; Bender Shipbuilding has adjusted and changed to market demand, building an assortment of vessels - ranging from barges and pushboats to towboats and shrimp vessels to OSVs and U.S. Navy Ships, and pretty much everything in between. T.J. Bender didn't survive to see the yard's transformation from machine ship to boatbuilder, as the company founder passed away in 1948.

Australian shipbuilder Austal, the world's largest builder of high-speed ferries, has signed a joint venture agreement with Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc. (Bender) to establish a U.S. shipbuilding operation: Austal USA. Austal's Chairman, John Rothwell made the announcement that Bender, located in Alabama, would partner Austal in the U.S. The majority equity will be held by Austal. Currently the coastwise trade laws in the U.S. (primarily the Jones Act and the Passenger Vessel Services Act) generally prohibit foreign-built vessels from operating on domestic routes. More than 3,600 vessels are active in the U.S. passenger vessel industry and they carry nearly 200 million passengers each year.

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., Mobile, Ala., has signed a contract for the construction of three 150-ft. anchor handling tugs for Otto Candies, LLC, Des Allemands, La. In addition to the contracted three orders, the contract grants Otto Candies, LLC, an option to purchase five more identical vessels. The first three vessels will be delivered in 2000. The anchor handling tug dimensions are 150 x 50 x 21 ft. and have a 10,000 hp capacity. The vessels will have a triple screw propulsion system from Stewart and Stevenson Services, Inc. with two EMD 16-645-E6 diesel engines driving outboard Aquamaaster Z-drives and one EMD 20-710-G7B diesel engine through a Reintjes 6.19:1 reverse reduction gear driving a fixed pitch centerline propeller inside a kort nozzle.

A contract for the construction of a deepwater construction vessel was signed by Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., and Torch, Inc. The Guido Perla & Associates-designed 340 x 85 x 31 ft. M/V Midnight Warrior is a current generation construction vessel, equipped to provide offshore flowline installation, offshore umbilical installation and subsea construction and is capable of worldwide operations. Midnight Warrior is to be ABS-classed, Maltese Cross A1, Maltese Cross AMS, DP-2 Circle E for unlimited international service. The 15,000 hp vessel will be diesel electric, SCR, with three 3,000 hp azimuthing thrusters on the stern and two 2,000 hp tunnel thrusters in the bow. The U.S.

Injury and illness incident rates at shipyards that belong to the Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) have, for the fifth consecutive year, stayed below the industry average. to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). SCA has an active Safety Committee that reviews the results of each quarterly survey and holds bi-annual safety seminars to address the areas where most injuries occur. naval shipyards and the importance of worker orientation programs. annual safety record. number of hours worked. average are eligible for awards. Industries, Inc., headquartered in Morgan City, LA. had a TRIR below the association’s average.

platform supply vessels which are being built in the U.S. Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. electrical propulsion and control systems for the 210-ft. which will be based in the Gulf of Mexico. facility in Houston, Texas. variable speed drive trains. allowing flexibility during the design phases of the project. past. The first vessel is due to be delivered in March 2004.