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The Waterways Co. Contracts With ACBL For Steermaster System The Waterways Company, Pass Christian, Miss., developers and manufacturers of the Steermaster bow steering -system for inland riv- er tows, has signed a contract with American Commercial Barge Lines, Jeffersonville, Ind., for the build- ing of a Steermaster Model 48. The steering system will be used on American Commercial Barge Lines coal tows operating east of New Orleans through the Mississippi Sound and Intracoastal Waterway. The Steermaster will be used pri- marily in the Back Bay Biloxi area, where maximum maneuverability in close quarters is required. Announcing the contract with American Commercial Barge Lines, Waterways Company president Walter N. Todd said that the use of the Steermaster "would upgrade ACBL's service to its customers, one of which is Mid-South Utilities. "The Steermaster is being used by ACBL in areas notoriously bad for shifting channels, shoaling, and adverse currents and winds, all of which contribute to loss of time for conventional towiboat operations. "The utilization of the Steermas- ter on ACBL tows should alleviate these problems, creating more effi- cient, more profitable, and greatly improved service." The Steermaster is a ibow steer- ing system for river towboats. It was developed to provide maneu- verability and direct control of riv- er tows, and has proved extremely effective in reducing waterway ac- cidents and loss of operating time caused by adverse winds and cur- rents, and has increased the margin of safety for operations on the riv- ers. With Steermaster, a tow is steered at the front of a tow, all components of the system being housed in a small lead Ibarge. Op- erations of the system are from the wheelhouse of the towboat. There are at present 12 Steer- masters under contract to major carriers on the inland waterways, and several installed in large ves- sels as an aid to maneuverability. Companies using the Steermaster include Magnolia Marine, Chotin Transportation, Thomas Marine, Radcliff Materials, Delta Queen Lines, and others. Exploration Vessel Launched For Gulf Oil At Burrard Dry Dock The world's most advanced ma- rine research and exploration ves- sel was launched by Gulf Oil Cor- poration on May 4 at Vancouver, British Columbia. The Hollis Hedberg, a $6-million vessel, has been designed primar- ily for operations in frontier water areas, and is t)he second research vessel to be put in service by Gulf since the inauguration of an ambi- tious marine exploration program in 1967. The ship was christened by Mrs. Melvin, J. Hill, wife of the presi- dent of Gulf Global Exploration Company, the subsidiary which di- rects the corporation's long-range exploration activities. Technical advances incorporated on the vessel include: • Satellite, inertial and shore- based radio navigation systems, re- garded as the best commercially available today; • Air guns to obtain seismic data, thus eliminating environment- al danger to water and aquatic life; • A marine hydrocarbon anal- yzer which can measure hydrocar- bon seeps simultaneously at three 'depths—surface, 200 feet and 600 feet, and • On-board data processing and interpretation capability to provide, on location, a complete geophysi- cal interpretation of the operating area. Previously, collected data was sent to Gulf Research & De- velopment Company, Hamarville, Pa., and Houston Technical Serv- ices Center for processing and in- terpretation. Powered by two 1,950-hp GM- EMD diesel engines, the ship has a displacement of 1,700 tons, a range of 9,000 miles, cruising speed of 14 knots, a crew of 47, and is equipped with twin rudders and props. The ship was built by Burrard Dry Dock Company, Limited of North Vancouver, and is on long- term charter from Cayman Island Vessels. It will be administered by the Exploration and Produc- tion Department at Gulf Research, and is supplied with geophysical instruments and technicians from Western Geophysical Company. Carrier We Have a New Face at Kawasaki Kobe Kawasaki has been shipbuilders a long time. And in this business, "a long time" translates directly into experience, technological capability, and tra- dition. We're using all three now at the Kobe Works in preparation for building LNG carriers that we now have orders for. They will be Moss Rosenberg design spherical, aluminum tank LNG carriers. The most advanced designed yet. It's also considered safer. The LNG'carriers we will build will have a one-time carrying capacity of 128,600 cubic meters of LNG. The first of these new era carriers will be delivered in 1977. Natu- rally, we're pretty busy around the Kobe Works right now. But for us, building LNG carriers comes easier than it does for some. We've already built LPG carriers. And LNG carriers are just another step for- ward in our carri- er-building career. ^ KAWA5AKI MCA\/V iimi-ii lerniee itpi HEAVY INDUSTRIES, LTD. SHIP SALES DIVISION: • Tokyo Office: World Trade Center Building. 2-4-1, Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan Cable: "KAWASAKIHEAVY TOKYO" Telex: J22672 • Kobe Works: 14,2-chome, Higashi Kawasaki-cho, Ikuta-ku, Kobe, Japan Cable:" KAWASAKIHEAVY KOBE" Telex: 5622-127 •Sakaide Works: 1 Kawasaki-cho, Sakaide, Kagawa, Japan Cable: "KAWASAKIHEAVY SAKAIDE" Telex: 5825-692. • Overseas Offices: London. New York. Hongkong, Sydney, Oslo. 42 Maritime Reporter/Engineerirtg News
