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Company In Aerospace Field Enters Maritime Industry —Lands $8 Million Contract At this time of the big dip in aerospace ac- tivities, one Louisiana electronics company is using its aerospace experience to successfully diversify into the offshore drilling and ship- board automation business. The firm is Technical Associates (TA), a nine-year-old New Orleans electronics com- pany whose managerial and engineering staff averages 28 years in age. Most are Tulane Uni- versity graduates. Having recently landed an $8-million plus contract from Litton Industries to engineer and fabricate complete shipboard automation systems for nine Navy amphibious assault vessels, TA officials are quite enthusiastic about the future. TA's overall backlog in or- ders is now in excess of $10 million. TA president Melvin Goldstein commented: "The Litton contract is the most significant contract awarded to TA. With this award we believe TA ranks in the top five U.S. com- panies designing and manufacturing propul- sion automation systems and control consoles for the maritime industry." The company started in 1961 and built spe- cialized electronics instrumentation for local medical research teams. Four years later, TA was selected by the Boeing Company to de- sign and manufacture an airborne signal con- ditioning unit for the Saturn SI-C booster. Other aerospace contracts followed with NASA, the U.S. Navy, and the C5-A trans- port program. During this period, TA de- veloped an internal capability for the most major processes critical to the design and pro- duction ©f advanced systems. As a result, TA is equipped with a produc- tion printed circuit shop, machine shop, com- puter facility, and numeric control equipment for automatic panel fabrication—rare for such a small company. Since 1965, the company has grown at the rate of 50 percent a year, and in 1971 that rate will double. TA, in getting out of the aerospace industry with few bruises, now markets a line of supervisory control equipment for the oil and gas production companies and for public utilities. "We have developed and fabricated equip- ment which enables oil men to operate the con- trols of an oil drilling or production platform, not from a site in the Gulf, but from an office in downtown New Orleans," said Frank Cham- berlain, TA's contract administrator. Pollution-conscious U.S. offshore oil produc- ers and stricter regulations by the U.S. De- partment of the Interior will cause offshore operators to depend more on automated con- trol of their remote production platforms. The DATAC 949 System, marketed by the Reiss Corporation, a TA subsidiary, is designed to permit continuous scanning of all valves as often as every 30 seconds and to monitor and control the positioning of production and shut- in valves on remote platforms. Two years ago TA began applying state-of- the-art technology to the problems of marine automation systems. TA subsequently made its mark with com- plete responsibility for the propulsion automa- tion systems for 11 LASH barge-carrying ships, three high-endurance Coast Guard cut- ters and the nine LHA Navy ships. TA thinks its future is bright. The Nixon Administration has made a com- mitment to modernize the merchant fleet by building 30 new ships a year over the next 10 years. Further, the Navy is now receiving funds for modernization of the fleet. Programs now in process represent over a three-billion ex- penditure with a significant portion allocated for modern automation equipment. "If our experience means anything, I sup- pose you can say that TA is an example of a small electronics company which is using its aerospace know-how to good advantage in promising new fields," Mr. Chamberlain ob- served. TA is part of the growing Louisiana-based electronics industries. Collective sales for Lou- isiana's electronics industries in 1970 is expect- ed to hit $130 million, aided in part by worker training grants ranging up to $150 per worker and 10 years of local tax exemption. The in- centives are provided by the Louisiana Depart- ment of Commerce and Industry, the state agency in charge of attracting new industry. Two Jackson Marine Tugs Under Construction At Halter —120 Foot Sedco Tug Delivered Profile view of the new 120-foot ocean tug Betty, built by Halter Marine Services, Inc., New Orleans, for South- eastern Drilling Company, Houston. Betty is the first in a new series of tugs designed and built by Halter. The tug is powered by two 16-cylinder GM EMD 645E2 diesels that develop a total of 4,200 horsepower. The Betty will be used by Sedco for towing pipelaying and derrick barges. The second 120-foot oceangoing tug in a new class of vessels being built by Halter Marine Services, Inc., New Orleans, La., is nearing com- pletion at the New Orleans shipyards of the com- pany. The new tug is the Mr. Robert, and it is being built for Jackson Marine Corporation, Ar- ansas Pass, Texas. Jackson Marine Corporation is an operator of offshore support vessels for the petroleum indus- try. The addition of the Mr. Robert to the com- pany's fleet of vessels in worldwide operation is part of a $5 million per year capital expansion program. Halter Marine Services, Inc., is one of the world's largest builders of tugs, crewboats, supply vessels, and special marine equipment for the offshore petroleum industry. Vessels in the Jack- son Marine fleet built by Halter include the Eastern Moon and Western Moon, 166-foot off- shore supply vessels; the Mr. Lou, Captain Jac, and Mister Mike, 100-foot tugs; and the Mister Chip, a 109-foot tug. The Mr. Robert will be powered by two Alco diesels with two four-blade 132-inch stainless steel propellers. Also under construction at the Moss Point, Miss., shipyards of Halter Marine Services is a 182-foot tug/supply vessel for Jackson Ma- rine Corporation. Halter also recently delivered the tug Betty, first of a new class of Halmar vessels, to South- east Drilling Company, Houston. The new 120-foot tug will be used by Sedco for towing pipelaying and derrick barges. It is powered by two 16-cylinder General Motors EMD 645E2 diesel engines that develop a total of 4,200 horsepower. The tug is equipped with Lufkin gears, two four-blade 120-inch diameter stainless steel propellers, a Skagit double-drum towing and anchoring handling winch, Smatco stern rollers for handling anchors, and a Halter Marine anchor windlass. The Betty is 120-feet overall, with a 34-foot beam and a 16-foot draft. It has a 126,000-gallon fuel oil capacity, quarters for 14, and is under 200 gross tons. The new tug is classed American Bureau of Shipping for Full Ocean Service. G.W. Wintz Elected President Of WSA George W. Wintz, vice president and gen- eral manager of Willamette Iron & Steel Co., Portland, Ore., was elected president of West- ern Shipbuilding Association at the organiza- tion's annual directors meeting. The full slate of officers elected to serve during 1971 is as follows: Robert E. Mayer, chairman of the board ; G.W. Wintz, president; Thomas A. Rotell, first vice president; E.J. Glenn, assistant to the president, and Bernard W. Evans, executive secretary-treasurer. Area vice presidents are: Seattle-Puget Sound Area—J.A. Byington, Malcolm E. Mc- Laren and Carl R. Meurk; Portland-Columbia River Area—Arthur E. Farr and Henry P. Mc- Carthy; San Francisco Bay Area— W.C. Brig- ham, Thomas B. Crowley, William Ferguson and John D. Reilly; Los Angeles-Long Beach Area—A.J. Maloney, Carl M. Lippincott and John E. IVarriner; San Diego Area—Robert F. Bennett and O.J. Hall; and Western Pacific Area—Richard Kuwada. The election of WSA directors as conducted by mail ballot resulted in election of the entire slate of 17 directors that was proposed by the nominating committee. Guest speaker at the WSA annual meeting in San Francisco was Thomas J. Patterson, Western Region Director of the Maritime Ad- ministration, U.S. Department of Commerce. C-E Controls Forms Canadian Subsidiary Combustion Engineering, Inc., Windsor, Conn, has announced the formation of a Ca- nadian subsidiary of its C-E Controls Division. Designated Optimum Controls of Canada, Ltd., the new group is engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of electrical and elec- tronic control equipment and systems for in- dustrial, marine, and paper mill boilers. Marketing C-E Controls' entire line of burn- er and boiler controls and instrumentation, its offices and manufacturing facilities are located at 2395 Cawthra Road, Mississauga, Ontario. Bruce Pendergast was named vice president and general manager of the subsidiary. He reports to J.F. McMahon, manager of C-E Controls' Optimum Division in Windsor, Conn. A CM*c, BRAIDED " THtZt't A Htw TW/tT ! " 26 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
