Machine Shops News

REMEMBERING MY SHIPMATE JOHN MICHELWe met in January 1959 when I became the first Officer in Charge of the Navy’s newly acquired Bathyscaph Trieste and John was the first USN enlisted man to be assigned to the project. We were based at the Naval Electronics Laboratory in San Diego. Trieste was unique as there were only two deep diving manned submersibles in the world. The French Navy had the other. Our team learned about the bathyscaph more by ‘apprenticeship’ than through any sort of formal learning process.

Surface plating is widely used to repair or salvage critical components in the marine industry. As many components need disassembly, the repair process is typically carried out when the ship is in dry dock. Due to the nature of the plating process, this work is usually performed by plating or machine shops off-site. In a quest to add value through reduced downtime and labor costs, many shipyards are looking to bring this service in-house. Mark Meyer, Sales Manager North America at SIFCO ASC…

Advanced Mechanical Enterprises (AME) has added hydraulic service and repair to its broad range of predictive, preventative and corrective maintenance solutions. “Adding hydraulics to our line of services was a natural progression for AME. We have two-full machine shops that can quickly help troubleshoot hydraulic issues as well as trained hydraulic technicians on staff that are readily available,” said Rich Merhige, President, AME. The Fort Lauderdale, FL-based company's newly formed hydraulics division will be led by industry veteran…

As Goltens celebrates 75 years serving the maritime industry, Roy Strand discusses the iconic company’s historic market strengths and its big push into the Ballast Water Treatment sector. Your company is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year. For readers who may not be familiar with the details of the company, can you provide a brief on its founding? The company was founded by Sigurd Golten in 1940. Golten was born in Western Norway and sailed as a merchant engineer from the age of 14. While sailing, he saw first-hand the importance of top-quality machine shops and repair providers.

While much of the focus on coverage of the Chinese shipbuilding industry is on big shipbuilding, Maritime Reporter switches gears this month to explore activities in select boatbuilding sectors. The Damen boatbuilding name is ubiquitous around the world, and China is certainly no exeception. The Damen Yichang Shipyard in China started ops in 1999 as a JV between Damen Shipyards Group and Sinotrans CSC, focused on building cargo vessels from the Dutch company’s portfolio. Recently Damen said it intends to broaden the market audience courtesy of an increased portfolio of vessels from the yard…

From the four-story office tower, housing 100 technical engineers and administration staff, to the 65,000-square-meter yard with extensive fabrication and machine shops and a huge dry dock, the Xin Yue Feng Shipyard has been building every more sophisticated vessels. Although the majority of the yards work is in steel, they maintain a set of skilled aluminum workers as well. In mid-March this group was building a small aluminum service vessel for a Singapore customer. Over in the yards assembly and launch dock…

Established in 1946, the family owned and operated, Bollinger Shipyards group provides quality maritime construction, boat repair and conversion products and services to both the U.S. Military and the commercial marine industry. Four generations of Bollingers have been challenged to match the innovation, integrity and deep sense of responsibility that have become synonymous with the Bollinger way of doing business. Bollinger Shipyards specializes in new construction, steel fabrication, vessel repair and conversion of a wide variety of U.S.

Signet Shipbuilding & Repair, (SS&R) a division of Signet Maritime Corporation announced the purchase and operation commencement of its newest heavy lift crane for new construction and repair. The 150-ton crawler crane will be utilized for hauling small vessels and barges from the water and loading/offloading marine equipment while vessels are dockside. Signet Shipbuilding & Repair specializes in new construction, repair, maintenance and refurbishment of tugs, workboats and barges.

Roy Dunlap invented a mechanical  pressure switch that prevented oil tanks from overflowing and founded SOR Inc. SOR® founder Roy Dunlap leveraged the static-o-ring (SOR) technology to invent a highly accurate mechanical pressure switch that helped prevent the overfilling of oil tanks. This simple but innovative design resulted in a switch of flawless accuracy that would change the oil & gas and power generation industries forever. The static-o-ring pressure switch was developed…

VT Halter Marine Inc, a subsidiary of VT Systems Inc., announced the arrival of a 12,000 MT Floating Dry Dock transported by a heavy lift vessel from the Philippines. The dock dimensions are LOA- 546 FT x B 128.5 FT x D 46 FT. The dry dock is part of an overall expansion plan to the south yard in Pascagoula where VT Halter Marine is adding a repair facility for semi-submersible drilling rigs and Panamax-size ships. The addition of the Floating Dry Dock to VT Halter Marine will…

Irving Shipbuilding’s successful C$25 billion bid for the combatant portion of the National Shipbuilding Procurement Strategy (NSPS) illustrates the strength of Nova Scotia shipbuilding industry. Under the program, Irving Shipbuilding, Inc. (ISI) will build six to eight Arctic/Offshore Patrol Ships and 15 Canadian Surface Combatants for the Department of National Defense (DND) over the next 20-30 years. The NSPS contract is in addition to ISI’s contract to build nine mid-shore patrol vessels for the Canadian Coast Guard…

St. Johns Ship Building Launches 157’ OSV for Caribbean Market. St. Johns Ship Building of Palatka, Fla. launched the Sea Strength, a 157’ offshore service vessel (OSV) for A. R. Singh Contractors Ltd. The vessel will be the largest in the A. R. Singh Contractors Ltd. fleet and will expand the company’s reach into the Caribbean offshore market. The Sea Strength is expected to be delivered February 2012. The Sea Strength is a twin screw vessel powered by two Caterpillar C32 marine type engines rated at 850 horsepower each at 1,800 RPM with Twin Disc reverse-reduction gears.

Subsequent to the departure of Holland America's Statendam in April, Cascade General took in Crystal Cruises' Crystal Harmony for a 10-day stopover in May. The 10-year-old ship underwent maintenance and overhaul work below its waterline, extensive interior remodeling and steel replacement for pool areas on Deck 11. With maximization of work in mind, Cascade normally sends advanced crews to join cruise ships on their way to the yard's Portland, Ore. locale. This time though, the first mobile crew met the ship in Los Angeles, where work commenced immediately on an overhaul of one of Harmony's auxiliary boilers. A second team was then summoned to San Francisco to clean ballast tanks before undertaking structural repairs and preservation work. easuring 790 ft.

Everybody talks about the John J. Harvey, and quite a few of them are doing something about it. The chipping, scraping, and painting you'd expect a 74-year-old fireboat to require has proceeded since the vessel became privately owned in 1999, but that's only the beginning of the discussion. For within the city the fireboat served for its first sixty years, a peculiar love/hate seems to have developed toward the harbor. That, more than leaks, can influence the future of the most historic of vessels, even as it affects contemporary ones doing their daily chores. The John J. Harvey was built for these waters in 1931, launched into them by the Todd shipyards at Brooklyn and serving them steadily, reliably, even heroically.

Shoreside facilities for commercial boats up to 350 ft. have become scarce on San Francisco Bay, but three veteran Bay Area boatyard owners have built an innovative new facility dubbed SugarDock. Rick Wood and Bill and Grace Bodle's SugarDock, located in the waters of the Richmond Inner Harbor, is specifically for boats up to 350 ft. The trio bought the old C&H Sugar transshipment dock in the East Bay town and converted it into a modern big boat service center. In a banana belt region just eight miles in from the Golden Gate, the facility has 34 ft. of water depth alongside at low tide, as well as a total of 760 linear feet of modern floating side-tie docks. Shoreside access is easy over a long, new, 45 ft. wide concrete apron leading to wide aluminum gangways.

Bollinger’s repair and conversion shipyard at Port Fourchon, La., on the Gulf of Mexico, can now accommodate rigs, ships and boats with drafts to 27 ft., now that dredging is complete from the sea buoys in the Gulf to Bollinger’s Fourchon 350-ft. slip, which has also been deepened. “The deepened waterway and slip permit us to offer services to larger jack-up and matted rigs as well as bigger ships and boats. We also have additional shore power providing electrical power for vessels’ hotel loads as well as additional cherry pickers and forklifts that can lift from 20 to 55 tons," said Walter Berry, executive VP and COO. Berry added that…

Bollinger Shipyards reports that it has been successful in re-opening Bollinger Quick Repair in Harvey, Bollinger Gretna, and Bollinger Algiers on the river. Ancillary services at each of these yards, such as the Electrical Shop, Machine Shops and Propeller Shop are also back in operation. These locations have restored power and services, and our employees are returning to work, building its workforce on a daily basis. Today (September 15, 2005) 33 of the company’s 40 dry-docks are in service. As a service to its customers, the company has started a Customer Hotline to assist its customers with questions and needs for services. In the event that they cannot get through, customers can call the hotline at telephone 985-532-7297.