Engine Monitor Inc News

The marine industry is becoming increasingly competitive, with many looking to lower transportation costs while demanding the highest environmental and safety standards. Automating vessel operations and systems can significantly improve a vessel owner’s competitive edge in the market, by reducing staffing requirements, improving asset management, maintenance costs and minimizing risk of environmental incidents due to human error. On a ship, there are many parameters that needs to be controlled or monitored including: temperature…

W&O announced that it has acquired Engine Monitor Inc. (EMI) . Based in St. Rose, La., EMI provides engineering and manufacturing as a marine integrator of critical vessel monitoring and control systems. In addition, EMI offers after-the-sale support via a highly skilled field service team, expert in-house repair capabilities and a diverse engineering team. “W&O and EMI have collaborated on a number of successful projects over the years'” said Michael Hume, President/CEO of W&O. By combining resources, W&O and EMI will accelerate the growth and market share of both companies.

With implementation of the US Coast Guard Subchapter M regulations just around the corner, owners of uninspected towing vessels are scrambling to understand and prepare for what’s to come, even while the rules are still evolving. Among the proposed changes for towing vessels are standards for propulsion and steering controls that closely resemble the existing standards for fully inspected offshore vessels. One component of the rules would require certain vessels to be equipped…

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La., has re-delivered the 254-ft. supply boat, Elsa Leigh, to Aries Marine Corp., Lafayette, La. While it looks like a new vessel, Elsa Leigh is the new name for the former Seacor Clipper after an extensive renovation at Bollinger’s Morgan City shipyard. The new name is in honor of Elsa Leigh, the four year-old daughter of Courtney B. Ramsay, vice-president of Aries Marine. “This is the kind of project we love,” said Donald “Boysie” Bollinger, chairman and CEO of Bollinger.

Bollinger Shipyards last month re-delivered the 254-ft. supply boat, Elsa Leigh, to Aries Marine Corp., of Lafayette, La., which is the new name for the former Seacor Clipper following extensive renovation at Bollinger's Morgan City shipyard. The new name is in honor of Elsa Leigh, the four year-old daughter of Courtney B. Ramsay, vice-president of Aries Marine. "This is the kind of project we love," said Donald "Boysie" Bollinger, chairman and CEO of Bollinger. Much of the work involved mechanical systems in the hull and replacement of about 30 percent of the boat's steel. The vessel was brought up to ABS DPS 1, FiFi1 and GMDSS Area 3 certification. Her two main EMD engines were removed and rebuilt by NREC in Houma, La., who boosted their power from 1,250 hp each to 1,500 hp each.

Lift boats are the unglamorous vessels of oil and gas well servicing industry. They travel to the job site with three large cylindrical legs rising 150-250 ft. above the waterline. Once onsite, lift boats lower their legs to the seabed and raise their hull up to 100 ft. above the waterline to be even with the structure they are servicing to provide a stable platform for workers to transit from the lift boat to the project in which they are working. These versatile vessels can serve through the entire life of a oil or gas well from driving casing to provide a "path" for a jackup rig to drill through construction of the platform, repair and renovation of the platform to plug and abandonment of the well.

It was inevitable. For several years now crew/supply boats have been following, almost in lock step their "big brothers," the supply boats, with technical and other innovations. Drop down bow thrusters, DP-1 systems, better crew accommodations and advanced radar systems are just a few of the features first introduced on supply boats and now available on crew/supply boats. The next step in this evolution is the introduction of automated monitoring, control and alarm systems on crew/supply boats. Trico Marine, Houma, La., is now operating three 155-ft. by 28-ft. crew/supply vessels that feature what is believed to be the first ever state-of-the-art automation system on this vessel type. Gulf Craft, Patterson, La., built the three identical vessels.

Closed circuit television (CCTV) has become a common system on most supply boats serving the Gulf of Mexico. One company that makes extensive use of CCTV on its vessels is Hornbeck Offshore Services, Mandeville, La. This is a serious commitment as the company is in the process of adding a complete CCTV system to six 220-ft. supply vessels recently purchased from the Candy Fleet, Morgan City, La. "We use CCTV to accomplish several things," said George McCoy, vessel group manager with Hornbeck. "They are used to document loads, to monitor high risk operations, monitor restricted areas, promote safe work practices and to record any unusual incidents that occur aboard or around our vessels," McCoy added. The CCTV system used on board large vessels such as the 240-ft.

Bollinger Shipyards, Inc., Lockport, La. recently delivered the first of two advanced technology supply boats to L&M BoTruc Rental, Inc., Golden Meadow, La. These vessels, at 191 ft. long will not be anywhere near the largest supply vessels delivered recently, but for their size they have enhanced deck cargo and liquid cargo carrying capabilities such as twice as much fuel oil as the 180-ft. vessels they are aiming to replace. Like Bollinger's slightly larger 207-ft. series of supply boats, these vessels feature advanced monitoring and control systems along with DP capability. In addition, these two vessels integrate engine control, steering and DP-1 into a single system that allows the various components to "talk" to each other in a seamless fashion.

Ros Inc. of San Diego, Calif. recently delivered four Anchor Bolster Deployment TV Systems to R&B Falcon of Houston, Texas. The systems will be installed on the semi-submersible drilling rig MG Hulme, presently operating off Western Africa. This system incorporates video inspection equipment mounted on a deployment frame which is raised and lowered to the rig's four anchor bolster mounts located at the base of the vessel's four main columns. Engine Monitor Inc. (EMI) has introduced what is being touted as the first totally U.S.-designed and manufactured Integrated Dynamic Positioning System (I-DPS). In development for the past two years, it will reportedly be the first DPS marketed as a complete system to include steering and engine controls in a single package.

Shipboard monitoring, sensing and control systems are in a transitional phase in 2002. Many of the newest vessels being launched today are using traditional monitoring systems with large alarm panels using banks of warning lights hard wired to 64 or more critical points on the vessel. These systems give warning if the system being monitoring falls or rises outside of the set point. "The problem is this method of monitoring doesn't give us the parameters the operator needs to diagnose the problem," said Jack Rowley, general manager of Engine Monitor, Inc., (EMI) St. Rose, La., a leading manufacturer of electronic ship monitoring equipment.

It is no secret that the overwhelming number of marine repair jobs at the nation's shipyards involves regulatory inspections. For example, the 150-ft. supply boat Mary R. Martin was in at Allied Shipyard, Larose, La. in mid-July for ABS and Coast Guard inspection and the change out of a few seals. The boat was dry docked for the inspections and minor repair work, her hull blasted and painted and after a few topside repairs in the slip and more paint work she was back at work. That type of "shave and a haircut" work is typical at Allied and other repair yards, but they are capable of much more complex work that literally extends the life of a vessel by many years. Earlier this year Allied finished a complete work over of the 195-ft. by 40-ft. supply boat Ms.