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Midland Enterprises To Buy 180 Jumbo Barges & Towboat To Handle Barging Contract Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Boston, Mass., has announced that its Midland Enter- prises group of barge operations has entered into the largest barging contract in its history. The contract is a long-term one with South- ern Services, Inc., Birmingham, Ala., in behalf of Alabama Power Company and Gulf Power Company, all subsidiaries of the Southern Company, for the transportation of large ton- nages of coal. Under the terms of the contract, The Ohio River Company and Orgulf Transport Co., Cincinnati, both Midland subsidiaries, will transport from 2 to 2>y2 million tons of coal yearly from Shawneetown, 111. to three Gulf Coast ports near generating plants of Alabama Power and Gulf Power. The term of the con- tract is for 17 years beginning January 1972, with an option of extending it to 20 years at the election of the customers. The coal to be transported will be produced by Peabody Coal Company at one of its Eagle mines in southern Illinois. At the choice of the customer, the coal will be delivered to gen- erating plants at Panama City or Pensacola, Fla., or Mobile, Ala. The shipment route will run about 120 miles on the Ohio River, 850 miles on the Mississip- pi, and an average of about 200 miles on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The average total haul of nearly 1,200 miles represents about 3.6 billion ton miles yearly, a 40 percent increase in the 9 billion ton miles achieved by Eastern's Midland group of barge operations in 1970. These operations carried a total of 25.6 million tons of cargo in 1970, bringing in revenues of near $34 million. To carry out the Southern Services con- tract, Midland plans to augment its present fleet by the purchase of at least one new 5,000- hp pusher towboat, and 180 jumbo, high-coam- ing barges. Other barge operating companies of East- ern's Midland Enterprises group are Red Cir- cle Transport Co., operating in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and along the Atlantic Coast, and Chotin Transportation Co., operat- ing on the Mississippi and Ohio River sys- tems, the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and in the Gulf of Mexico. The Chotin Company, which is primarily engaged in the liquid barg- ing business and had consolidated revenues of about $14^ million in 1970, was recently acquired by Eastern. British Firm Supplying Diesels To U.S. Operators Costing Over $2,400,000 Diesel engines worth over $2,400,000 for four more revolutionary twin-engined "pusher- tugs" to operate with giant barges have been ordered by two U.S. companies. The first ves- sel of this kind, made up of a tug fitting into a slot in the stern of a barge, was ordered last year and is shortly due to be commissioned. One tug-barge combination is similar to the original vessel now under construction and is a repeat order for the same customer, Ingram Corporation of New Orleans, La. The order, placed with Lister Blackstone Mirrlees Ma- rine, a Hawker Siddeley Diesels subsidiary, is fer two 12-cylinder Mirrlees KVMR Major die3els, each rated at 5,564 bhp. A second order for six 16-cylinder Mirrlees KV Major engines has been placed by the Lit- ton Great Lakes Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio, through the Group's Canadian subsidi- ary, Hawker Siddeley Diesels and Electrics Ltd., Rexdale, Ontario. These engines will power three units designed to operate on the Great Lakes, and the tugs, each with two 7,420-bhp engines, will be among the most powerful vessels of their kind afloat. The tug-barge concept keeps the relatively expensive propulsion unit fully employed. The tug brings one barge into port and can take another out without having to wait during unloading and loading. The tug and barge, when joined together, have the same opera- tional speed as a conventional cargo vessel. Starporter Container Crane Ordered By Overseas Shipping For Terminal Island Facility A 40-ton capacity Starporter container crane, almost identical to the one pictured above recently completed at Charleston, S.C., for the South Carolina Ports Authority, was ordered by the Overseas Shipping Company for its Terminal Island facility. The Overseas Shipping Company, a San Francisco, Calif., based firm with offices in Se- attle and Los Angeles, has placed an order with Star Iron & Steel Co. of Tacoma, Wash., for a 40-ton capacity Starporter container crane, according to Chris Blom, president of Overseas. Mr. Blom stated that the contract price for the large crane was approximately $1 million. Charles Allen, president of Star, said: "We are extremely pleased to be work- ing with Overseas Shipping. They have been real contributors to the nation's marine indus- try and their future development on the coast will help strengthen the whole shipping in- dustry." Overseas Shipping Company is the Pacific Coast agent for Barber Lines and the agent in the Puget Sound area and Los Angeles for ScanStar. They will install the new crane at their Los Angeles Harbor facility at Terminal Island. This will be the second container crane erected at the Overseas Terminal Island facili- ty, and construction is to begin this spring. It is scheduled to be in operation by June 15. The crane, which weighs over 500 tons, has some new features not found on most cranes of their type. One unique feature is that it can rotate containers 90 degrees for spot loading and discharging. This gives the crane the ad- vantage of being able to work conventional ships and semi-container ships, as well as regu- lar container vessels. It is capable of handling both 20-foot and 40-foot containers and a great variety of general cargo. It can also be adapted to bulk cargo service with the addition of a grab bucket. The crane also has a new type of DC control system, which is completely static and requires no generators. The reach of the boom will be 113 feet 6 inches. The back reach will be 61 feet, with an additional 50-fo'ot gage which gives the crane a total reach over the dock and water of 224 feet 6 inches. The height of the crane will be 220 feet with the boom in a stowed position. Trolley speeds will reach 410 feet per minute, while the gantry speed will be 150 fpm. Up and down hoist speeds will reach 100 feet per min- ute with a load and 240 fpm unloaded. Maritime Reporter/Engineering News JJVCKSON 00 ? ,
