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Young Brothers, Ltd.'s tug, the Hoku Ke'a, has returned to service after being fitted with Nautican Research and Devel- opment Ltd.'s new Integrated Nozzle and Rudder Units at Foss Shipyards in Seattle. Mark Houghton, Vice-President, Mar- itime Operations, of Hawaiian Tug & Barge, Young Brothers reports that on the return trip to Hawaii, "the Hoku Ke'a was able to run at reduced r.p.m. and still aver- aged between 9.5 and 10 knots for the Pacific transit, towing a 340 x 78 ft. barge." This is the first installation of the Nautican Integrated Units on an ocean- going tug. Prior to the conversion, the Hoku Ke'a was fitted with conventional open pro- pellers and rudders. The 108 x 34 ft., 3,900 hp tug's bollard pull went from 88,853 lbs with open propellers to 132,810 lbs with the Nautican Nozzles. Houghton said, "Young Brothers consid- ers the increase in bollard pull of approx- imately 50 percent, with fuel conservation and increase in towing speed to be a bet- ter economic business case than repower- ing the same tug for equivalent perfor- mance. The triple-aspect rudders rein- state, if not improve, the vessel respon- siveness by providing additional steering surface area in the aperture created by the Nautican nozzles." Joe Gruzling, presi- dent of Nautican Research and Develop- ment Ltd., adds, "the thrust increase is 10 to 12 percent more than what any Kort nozzle will do at bollard, and at towing speed the increase will be even more." "With the higher bollard pulling power, the tug will be able to conduct tandem tows and still maintain required delivery schedules for our customers. Additional- ly Young Brothers has chartered larger barges, which the Hoku Ke'a will now be able to tow consistently in even marginal weather conditions," notes Houghton. The results are consistent with the 2003 conversion to Nautican Nozzles of anoth- er Young Brothers tug, the Moano Holo. The 120 x 34 ft. 3,000 hp Moano Holo's bollard pull increased 58 percent, from 64,000 lbs to 101,500 lbs after the conver- sion from open propellers to 108 in. Nau- tican Nozzles. Houghton said, "We have proven the Nautican conversion on the Young Brothers tug Moano Holo is a cost efficient performance enhancement, that pays for itself in a short period of years. This type of cost-performance ratio pro- vides the company with a competitive advantage." The purpose of the Nautican Integrated Units is to save installation time in the shipyard. In this refit, each Integrated Unit consists of a 112-in. Nautican High Efficiency Nozzle and a set of High Effi- ciency Triple Rudders. A pre-swirl stator can sometimes be included, "but it is a more practical option for new installa- tions," explains Gruzling. Dave Palmer, estimator/project manager with Foss Shipyards says, "Although it's the first time [for us] with this installation design, I think it went much smoother and I feel there has been some increase in the instal- lation efficiency," as compared to the Moano Holo. He adds, "the effort for the alignment of the rudders was much less," on the Hoku Ke'a as an example of the increased installation efficiency. But he notes, "it is difficult to put an exact figure on the improvement because the vessels have a number of differences from their structural configuration to their internal interferences." Gruzling explains that, "because half the installation time is for installing and aligning the rudders, using the Integrated Units could potentially reduce the instal- lation time by 50 percent." He adds, "there is also less chance of making instal- lation errors, because the yard doesn't have to align each of the stators, nozzles, propellers, and rudders." "We are looking forward to monitoring the Hoku Ke'a performance as she tows Young Brothers loaded barges between Honolulu and neighbor island ports. We expect to document faster transit times with commensurate fuel savings," says Houghton. He adds, "we hope the Inte- grated Units will prove to be relatively maintenance free between scheduled dry dockings." Circle 9 on Reader Service Card 6• MarineNews • July, 2005 NEWS Integrated Improvement for Tug VT Halter Wins $16.3M Contract VT Halter Marine Inc., signed a $16.3m contract to build a catamaran lift barge for Washington Group International (WGI) and WGI's joint venture partner, Alberici Group. The vessel will be fitted with spe- cial lift equipment that will be used to transport and place precast concrete seg- ments in the U.S. Army Corps of Engi- neers' Olmsted Dam construction project. VT Halter Marine will build two 200 x 90 x 15-ft. units that will be assembled to form the catamaran lift barge. The vessel's configuration will allow it to effectively assist in the Olmsted Dam construction efforts, which will take place near Olmst- ed, Illinois on the Ohio River. Engineer- ing and procurement will begin immedi- ately and delivery is planned to occur in the 2H 2006. The catamaran lift barge will be in service for approximately six years on this project. Construction will be according to the 2003 ABS Rules for Building and Class- ing Steel Barges, with regard to structural hull design. It will also comply with USCG Rules for navigation and stability. The Washington Group International / Alberici Group was awarded the $564M contract to build the Olmsted Dam during January 2004. Estimated completion of the project is 2012. Circle 12 on Reader Service Card Moose Wins Patrol Boat Contract Moose Boats won a contract from the Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration (MaRaD), for the con- struction of two Moose 340C Catamaran Patrol Boats. These patrol boats will be assigned to the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet located in Benicia, California. The Suisun Bay Fleet consists of dry cargo ships, tankers, military auxiliaries and other types of reserve ships in the custody of the Maritime Administration. The Moose 340C is a 37.5 ft. All-Alu- minum Jet Powered Catamaran with twin Cummins 380 hp turbo diesels and is pro- pelled by Hamilton 292 water jets. This vessel can attain a top speed of over 34 knots, cruise at almost 30 knots, come to a full-speed stop in less than two boat lengths. Its 21 in. draft will allow all of this to be done in less than 3 ft. of water which is ideal for it patrol application in the Suisun Bay. Circle 70 on Reader Service Card M/V Harbor Queen Starts Service Blount Boats, Inc. completed the new dinner boat, Harbor Queen, which was commissioned for service in Newport Harbor on June 9. This vessel was designed in house to attract tourists to Rhode Island's scenic Narragansett Bay. The Spirit of Newport Company will operate the Harbor Queen- from Bowen's Wharf, Newport, RI, along- side her sister ship, Spirit of Newport in JULYMN2005 1(1-8).qxd 6/30/2005 11:56 AM Page 6
