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Seek Aid To Build Ten Hydrofoils For N.Y. Area Commuters Brucker International Inc. (for- merly International Hydro Lines Inc.) of New York City has ap- plied to the Maritime Administra- tion for construction loan and mortgage insurance in connection with the building of 10 hydrofoils, each capable of hauling 72 passen- gers, for commuter and excursion service in the Greater New York City area. The company estimated in the application that each of the 65-foot-l'ong craft would cost some $550,000. Although the Maritime Adminis- tration provided little detail, com- pany officials disclosed that the craft will be ordered from Whit- taker Corp., Los Angeles. Service with the 40-mile-an-hour vessels is scheduled to begin in late 1973, ac- cording to Ira Dowd, International Hydro Lines' president, and James P. Casey, president of Tri-State Hydrolines Inc., which will actual- ly operate the craft. Routes are planned, they said, up and down the Hudson and East Rivers, with connections between Manhattan Island and Connecticut, as well as points in Westchester County, Long Island on the sound, and between Manhattan, Staten Is- land, and the Jersey shore. Mr. Dowd noted his previous hy- drofoil experience at the New York World's Fair in 1964, and more re- cently with two Russian - built craft among U.S. and British Vir- gin Islands. Ultimately, Mr. Dowd said he saw a market for 50 such craft in and around major coastal cities. B.J. (Ben) Gross Named President Of New Firm SOFEC, Inc. B.J. (Ben) Gross, formerly vice president of marketing with AFC Industries Incorporated in New York, N.Y., and its W-K-M Valve Division in Houston, Texas, has taken an early retirement to be- come president of a new company, SOFEC, Inc., 'with headquarters in Houston. The firm will engineer, manufacture and install proved ad- vance design, single buoy mooring systems principally for loading and unloading oil tankers. The SOFEC design is labeled SALM, for Single Anchor Leg Mooring, and wall be built and installed anywhere in the world by SOFEC. Van Houten As- sociates, New York-based consul- ting engineers, will support the technological and engineering needs. SALM installations have been made in the Middle East and Far East. Development of other offshore facilities are planned. Mr. Gross, graduate of the Uni- versity of Missouri-Rolla, was president of the Key Company in 1955, when he merged it with W- K-M. In 1967, he was promoted to vice president of marketing by the parent ACF Industries and he transferred to New York. His en- tire background has been in fur- nishing engineered products to the petroleum and chemical industries. In addition to Mr. Gross, SOFEC, Inc., has the qualified experience of engineers and installation super- visors. SOFEC is presently located at One Greenway Plaza East, Houston, Texas 77046. Captain SJ. Wise Joins Staff Of Schmahl And Schmahl Capt. Siegmar J. Wise has re- signed his command of the German super cruise liner Boheme to join the staff of the well-known Flori- dian marine surveying organiza- tion of Schmahl and Schmahl, Inc., with headquarters in Fort Lauder- dale. The affiliation of Captain Wise with the underwriters' sur- veying and classification firm was announced iby Horace W. Schmahl Sr., president of the company. Capt. Wise, one of the youngest masters of a large passenger liner, will devote himself to the Interna- tional Division of the surveying firm which represents most of the European insurance clubs, the Li- berian maritime interests, and the classification society, Germanischer Lloyd, as well as the German Mer- chant Marine Safety Bureau. Cap- tain Wise has made Miami his residence. Our man in Savannah is your man in Savannah. Meet Jack Harrison, one of our ship superintendents. His job is your job. We pay his salary, but he works for you. He sees to it that the rest of our people stay on the bail and on your job. It doesn't matter if it's a major conversion or a voyage repair. He makes commitments to your port engineer and keeps them. He doesn't like apologizing or explaining. So he makes sure he doesn't have to do a whole lot of it. We do good work. This is a good town. We have a good climate. And we've got good men like Jack Harrison working for us. Come on down and let us show you why they ought to be working for you. Savannah Machine and Shipyard Co. P.O. Box 787, Savannah, Ga. 31402 Tele. (912) 233-6621 5 World Trade Center, Room 6237 New York, N.Y. 10048, Tele.(212) 432-0350 Your man in Savannah, 18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
