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Todd President Sees U.S. Shipbuilders Dixie Dredge Corp. Improving Competitive Position Appoints M.J. Forster John T. Gilbride, president and chief executive officer of Todd Ship- yards Corporation, in a speech on January 23 at The Propeller Cluib, Port of New York, provided his audience with an "inside" view- point of the recent findings of the Commission on American Ship- building. John T. Gilbride As a member of the Commission, he was intimately involved in the three-year study and therefore able not only to amplify some of the findings, but -also to bring them up to date in light of the rapidly changing world situation. Mr. Gilbride stressed the divers- ity of the committee membership and how it was selected to achieve maximum objectivity. In describ- ing the Commission's search for facts, he noted that the group visit- ed and surveyed people at 49 ship- yards throughout the 12 major shipbuilding countries of the world, and more than 20 additional mari- time organizations, government agencies, and consultants. He praised the Japanese competi- tive success in the world market and the reasons for it, also pointing out the current problems facing the Japanese which may serve to lessen their competitive advantage. As an example, because of spiraling infla- New Small Craft Design Facility Opened In Maine Fair Wind Enterprises, Inc. an- nounces the opening of a small craft design office in West Booth- bay Harbor, Maine 04575. This firm will specialize in the design of small commercial craft and cruis- ing yachts. Russell M. Woodin, president of the new firm, has had many years' experience in the design of custom yachts and commercial vessels. He has been associated with such well- known firms as John G. Alden, Dwight S. Simpson Associates, and John W. Gilbert Associates, Inc., as well as several years in large ship design with the Quincy Ship- building Division of General Dyna- mics Corp. The new firm has equal capabili- ty for traditional or contempory type vessels and for wood, steel, aluminum or 'fiberglass construc- tion in Japan, a Japanese ship costs twice today what it did five years ago. Mr. Gilbride dealt point by point with the reasons cited by the Com- mission report for Japan's strong competitive position, and showed how the situation is changing to bring U.S. shipyards into a better competitive balance. The reasons given are: highly developed tech- nology, excellent labor relations, modern construction methods, fixed prices, unequivocal Government support, and inter-industry and Government cooperation. In several of these areas, the U.S. shipbuild- ing industry position is improving, and in others, recommendations have been made by the Commission to rectify the problems. Mr. Gilbride concluded by urging his audience to read the report for supporting documentation of his conclusions. He observed that, since the enactment of the Merchant Ma- rine Act of 1970. the U.S. shipbuild- ing industry has proved what can be done, given a start toward a sta- ble market and the opportunity to build ships in series; that it has, in fact, met the challenge inherent in the Act by meeting or bettering the declining subsidy scale in every contract award since its enactment. It is Mr. Gilbride's personal con- viction that our country will not be self-sufficient in meeting its ener- gy needs in the near future, if at all, and that we will have to depend on imported crude oil to sustain our economy well into the 1980s. He indicated that, as evidence of the private American shipbuilding in- dustry's will to adjust to the chang- ing market, that $500 million have been put into shipbuilding facilities in the last three to four years, and that $300 million of capital im- provements are in the advanced engineering stage. tion. Consulting services on exist- ing vessels and marine surveys are also offered. Kennecott To Head Ocean Mining Project For Int'l Consortium An international consortium of major metals producers led by the Kennecott Copper Corporation has announced a five-year research and development program to determine the feasibility of mining manganese nodules from the deep sea.' Kennecott's partners in the $50- million venture, which will be de- veloped in the east-central Pacific north of the Equator, are the Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation of London; Consolidated Gold Fields, Ltd., also of London; The Mitsubishi Cor- poration of Tokyo, and Noranda Mines, Ltd. of Toronto. Kennecott, which will manage operations for the group, has a 50 percent interest in the program, Rio Tinto 20 per- cent, and the other companies 10 percent each. Melvin J. Forster Melvin J. Forster has been ap- pointed sales manager for the Dixie Dredge Corporation, St. Louis, Mo., according to an announcement by Jack T. Dunn, president Mr. Forster was formerly with The Society of Marine Port En- gineers New York, N.Y., Inc. met recently at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. At the technical session, which was preceded by a dinner, a paper was read entitled "'Care and Main- tenance of Turbine and Hydraulic Oil Systems," by Irving L. Cigli- ano and Vincent Maxwell of Ma- rine Moisture Control Co., Inc. The sponsor was John Antonetz, Tex- aco Inc. In the paper, the authors state that "In the United States approx- imately 2y2 billion gallons of lubri- cating oils are sold annually for industrial use. Half of this is con- sumed during its use, and the re- maining 1*4 billion gallons are drained periodically to be replaced with new oils." Without proper maintenance, all lubricating fluids deteriorate as a function of time. Unless the deterioration process is prevented by proper mainte- nance, oil quickly becomes unfit for further service and must be re- placed. The machinery being lubri- cated is adversely affected by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester. Pa., for 10 years,_ in the marketing and estimating groups. Prior to that, he spent 12 years in the dredge manufacturing field with the Ellicott Machine Corporation, in the engineering and estimating capacity. He is a mem- ber of The Society of Naval Archi- tects and Marine Engineers. Dixie Dredge is a leading design- er and builder of portable dredges, with manufacturing plants in St. Louis, Mo., and Miami. Fla., and is a subsidiary of Pott Industries Inc., St. Louis Ship Division. Mr. Forster is a Penn State Uni- versity business management grad- uate and an alumnus of Johns Hop- kins University School of Engi- neering, where he majored in in- dustrial and mechanical engineer- ing. deteriorated lubricants, leading to breakdowns and costly voyage re- pairs. The paper describes the coalesc- ing method of purification, and the authors contend that the increasing cost of lubricants and supply shortages of new oil dictate the need for proper conditioning of oil and should be of prime importance to all engaged in the marine field. At this meeting, the annual elec- tion was held and the following offi- cers and directors were chosen. Officers: president, Joseph Thel- gie, Marine Transport Lines, Inc.; 1st vice president, William P. Tow- ner, American Bureau of Shipping, and 2nd vice president, Thomas Jones Jr., American Export Lines. Full Members—iBoard of Direc- tors : James D. Bergstrom, Texaco Inc.; Louis V. Minett, American Bureau of Shipping; John C. Fox Jr., Exxon International 'Co.; Ed- ward G. Hannon Jr., Maritime Overseas Corp., and Philip A. Don- ahue, Maritime Overseas Corp. Associate Members — Board of Directors: John Antonetz, Texaco Inc., and William H. Porter, Jay- val Marine Corp. Society Of Marine Port Engineers N.Y. Discuss Care Of Turbine And Hydraulic Oil Systems Shown at the meeting of the Society of Marine Port Engineers New York, N.Y., Inc., held at the Downtown Athletic Club, New York City, are: (seated, left to right) John Antonetz, sponsor; Irving L. Cigliano, author; Philip A. Donahue, full member, board of directors; Vincent Maxwell, author; (standing, left to right) Edward English, chairman, program committee; John C. Fox Jr., full member, board of directors; Thomas Jones Jr., second vice president, and H.H. Hunt, secretary, N.Y. Port Engineers. 14 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
