Robert Hill News

The Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers has officially welcomed its new senior officers at a Controlling Council meeting held in Athens, Greece.Taking over from Glenn Murphy as International Chair of the Institute is Luis Bernat. Prior to his election as Chair, Bernat has held the position of Vice Chair since 2021. He brings to the role extensive experience gained over almost 50 years in the industry. This includes, most recently, his role as Chartering Manager for TSL Shipping & Trading.

The view from the Bouchard Boardroom and … beyond.The roots of the now familiar and reliable articulated tug and barge (ATB) business are deep and stretch all the way back to the 1800’s. Along the way, various patents to connect a tug and a barge with a secure mechanical connection were filed. The concept began to gather momentum in the late 1960’s when Edwin Fletcher with ARTUBAR, and the Bludworth family of flexible pushing systems were pioneering efforts to marry the economies of pushing with the safety and seakeeping inherent in mechanically linking the tug and barge at sea. Other systems were developed and tried; not all were successful.As a baseline…

Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corporation, a naval architecture and marine engineering firm specializing in AT/B or Articulated Tug/Barge design announced that it is now a member of the Hyperion Marine Engineering Group headquartered in Portland, Maine with offices in India, Dubai, Norway and the Netherlands.CT Marine & Buoyancy Consultants formed Hyperion three years ago recognizing a need for an integrated naval architectural & marine engineering firm to serve the inland and offshore tug and barge industry that incorporates a capability for conceptual through highly detailed production design, all under one corporate roof. With over seventy engineers who span the globe…

Robert (Bob) Hill of Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corp., of Milford, MA has specialized in the design of AT/B’s for many years. As probably the world's most experienced designer of large articulated tug/barge (AT/B) systems, Hill’s success comes, in part, from a willingness to innovate. Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering Corporation and Robert Hill are the co-inventors of the Intercon Connection System. In a nutshell, his firm has had a hand in over 70% of the operational AT/B’s in service in America – including, 80% of those built or converted since 1994.

Along the way, ATBs gain speed, efficiency, safety – and popularity. Operators of articulated tugs and barges, or ATBs, say they like the maneuverability, weather reliability, stability, speed of these units, and the manner in which the tug pushes the barge. As a marine transportation concept, they can also simply be described as versatile. ATBs move petroleum, chemicals, coal, grain, containerized cargo and rail cars for customers on the U.S. coasts, rivers, the Great Lakes and overseas. As a result, demand for articulated units expanded in the last two decades with new technology.

MOre than 100 young people from 11 universities from six countries on three continents gather to take part in the European International Submarine Races. The event organizers are celebrating National Women in Engineering Day by highlighting the strength the involvement of women had in teams. “Twenty percent of the participants are women, and we celebrate the complete equality of roles in the teams,” says Race Director, Prof William Megill. “Some will have taken a very active role in the design of their submarine…

The newly launched program for the 12th International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition – INEC 2014, being held at the Marine Establishment Amsterdam in the Netherlands (May 20-22, 2014) features an incomparable line-up drawn from over a dozen countries speaking to the theme ‘Innovative solutions to global trends’. The program includes keynote addresses by Vice Admirals of both the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal Navy, and, thanks to the support of the Royal Netherlands Navy, a networking and industrial visit program with the innovative HNLMS Tromp at its heart.

The AT/B comes of age: operating coastwise, Jones Act – and beyond the horizon, too. A great deal has been written about the capabilities of the AT/B, or “Articulated Tug/Barge” unit in recent years. Without a doubt, though, the concept is firmly established as a viable ocean and coastwise transportation system in North America. But like any transportation asset, the concept has to not only expand its’ capabilities, but also conform over time to ever-changing rules and regulations. It must also be able to embrace and adapt to changes in technology that hold the promise of reduced emissions as well as savings in fuel and protection of the environment.

Signal invests $40m in Orange, TX shipyard; Building ATBs currently for Kirby Ocean Tranporation Co. A ubiquitous presence in the Gulf of Mexico ship construction and repair market is Mobile, Ala.-based Signal International, a Marine and Fabrication company which employs about 1800 in its four production facilities across Alabama, Mississippi and Texas. Signal specializes in new construction, ship repair, and rig repair. Signal can handle marine construction and repair needs with three dry docks…

The 11th International Naval Engineering Conference and Exhibition (INEC 2012), featuring the theme ‘Engineering Naval Capability,’ is set for Edinburgh next month with a keynote address by Admiral Sir Mark Stanhope GCB OBE ADC, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, Ministry of Defense. Organized by the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) INEC 2012 is being held from Tuesday May 15 through Thursday May 17, with sessions on ship design, electric propulsion, survivability, system selection, environment and safety, submarines, design, and civil/military transfer, sustainability, unmanned operations, and affordability. Speakers come from 11 countries – Australia, Canada, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malaysia, The Netherlands, Pakistan, Russia, UK, and USA.

Minister for Defense, Senator the Hon Robert Hill, announced that Austal Ships, in conjunction with joint tender partner, Defense Maritime Services (DMS), has been short-listed to design, construct and provide through-life service for the Royal Australian Navy’s new patrol boats, due to replace the existing Fremantle class patrol boats. If ultimately successful, Austal’s role in the SEA 1444 project will be the design and construction of the patrol boats, while DMS will provide logistic and maintenance support through the operational life of the vessels, in addition to training of naval crews. Austal Ships’ managing director, Bob McKinnon, said Austal’s inclusion on the short-list was a reflection of the company’s worldwide success with both commercial and military vessels.

Late last year was a high water mark of sorts in the Articulated Tug-Barge (ATB) business. In December, Crowley Maritime of Seattle, Wash. took delivery of their fourth ATB, featuring a 9,280 HP tug and a 155,000 barrel barge. Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wisc. built the barge. and the tug by sister company Marinette Marine, Manitowoc, Mich. At about the same time on the east coast K-Sea Transportation was taking delivery of their fourth ATB unit from Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La. All four of these new units featured new 80,000-100,000 barrel barges and existing tugs fitted with the JAK coupler system. In 2004, ATB construction has slowed a bit, but several companies continue contracting for retrofitted and new ATB units.

Claiming "an advancement in the art of tug and barge design," Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering (OT&B), Milford, Conn., has introduced a new ATB design "based on the firm's long experience and highly successful specialization in this market," said OT&BE President Robert Hill. The company's Costwise AT/B series are targeted to attain higher unit speeds at sea, better maneuverability and improvements in habitability, constructability and ergonomics. "The Costwise AT/B design will be adaptable to the broader, worldwide market, while still meeting the unique design requirements of the U.S. market," Hill said. The company says it has had a hand either in the design or refit engineering of over one-half of the ATBs operation in the United States.

A Jacksonville, Florida man was charged today in federal court with one count of violating the Clean Water Act and one count of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida…

A Jacksonville, Florida man pleaded guilty in federal court to violating the Clean Water Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan; Thomas V. Skinner, Acting Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance; William Schenkelberg, Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Thomas J. Healy, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Office of Law Enforcement, announced today that FRANKLIN ROBERT HILL, age 53, of Jacksonville, Florida, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B.

A federal judge has nullified Massachusetts’ landmark Oil Spill Prevention Act, striking down regulations on oil shipping in Buzzards Bay that included mandatory tug escorts and navigational routes as well as minimum staffing. U.S. District Judge Joseph L. Tauro ruled the state violated federal law because those areas fall under Coast Guard jurisdiction. He said the state regulations ''are pre-empted, invalid and unconstitutional under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution.'' The Massachusetts Legislature passed the Oil Spill Act in 2004, amid warnings from the oil industry that it was stepping on federal jurisdiction. Lawmakers moved quickly to respond to a 98,000-gallon oil spill in Buzzards Bay on April 27, 2003, when a Bouchard Transportation Co.

Construction of a new articulated tug and barge has begun for Reinauer Transportation Companies, Staten Island, N.Y. The 124-ft. oceangoing tug and mating 135,000 barrel capacity notched barge are scheduled to enter service along the U.S. eastern seaboard in early December 1999. Atlantic Marine Inc., Jacksonville, is building the tug, which was designed by Robert Hill of Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering, Bellingham, Mass. The vessel's mating 460 ft. double-hull barge was designed by and is being built at Alabama Shipyard, Mobile, Ala., a subsidiary of Atlantic Marine. Tug Nicole Leigh Reinauer will be powered by two Cat 3612s, each rated 4,211 bhp at 1,000 rpm. Two Lufkin 5:1 gears will drive 140-in. dia. Bird-Johnson Workhorse propellers, providing the vessel with approximately 172,000 lbs.