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Western Gear Winch Aids Pipeline Handling During Stormy Seas Development of an advanced- concept winch package which will allow pipelaying barge operators to manipulate tensioned pipelines during stormy periods at sea has been announced by Western Gear Corporation. The highly responsive and sen- sitive control mechanism is de- signed to increase safety of crew and equipment in hostile ocean environments. Self-sensing and functioning in- tegrally with Western Gear's widely used Pipemaster pipe ten- sioners, the new abandonment and recovery (A & R) winch will be initially installed late this year aboard a new-generation pipelay barge. The barge, one of the largest in the world, is designed for op- eration in the offshore petroleum production fields of the unpredict- able North Sea. Designed to function despite heaving and pitching conditions, the A & R winch is used when- ever a lay barge is forced to in- terrupt the process of laying pipe on the sea bottom, a practice fol- lowed only during dangerous sea storms. Under the unique Western Gear system, the winch operator gently transfers the highly tensioned pipeline from the pipe tensioner to the A & R winch. Then, the operator lowers the pipeline to the sea floor while the computer- ized control system maintains a closely regulated tension range throughout the operation. The massive winch, with drum flanges 10 feet in diameter, is capable of spooling 4,200 feet of three-inch-diameter wire rope, and of producing a nominal full drum line pull of more than 300,000 pounds. The A & R winch is being man- ufactured at Western Gear's plant at Everett, Wash., where the pro- prietary pipe tensioners and other products specially designed for the offshore and subsea mining industries are produced. Among the other specialized equipment for petroleum produc- tion are motion compensation sys- tems for drilling rigs, riser and guideline tensioners, pipe rackers, and constant tension wiches. Western Gear, with executive offices at Lynwood, Calif., is in the business of developing unique capital equipment and designs which will significantly improve productivity for major basic in- dustries. Coffin Pump Expands Plant Facilities FMC Corporation has an- nounced the addition of approxi- mately 21,000 square feet to their Coffin Pump Division Plant, ad- jacent to the present plant at 326 South Dean' Street, Englewood, N.J. 07631. According to Raymond A. Bock- sel, general sales manager, the new addition will keep the Coffin Pump Division abreast of the rig- id quality and delivery demands of the marine industry. The addi- tional plant will include expanded tooling and tool facilities, pump assembly areas, plus larger spare parts inventories. Coffin has been a leading sup- plier of high-performance boiler feed pumps for the marine indus- try for over half a century. ADVANCEMENT OF DREDGIN6 TECHNOLOGY WORLD DREDGING CONFERENCE Sept. 29 - Oct. 4, 1974 Taipei, Taiwan Grand Hotel *********** Technical Papers Topics: Dredge Designs Dredging Operations Dredge Mining Electronic Systems Power Systems Environmental Analysis Admiralty & Insurance EXHIBITION OF EQUIPMENT *********** Low air fares available R.T. Los Angeles-Taipei Send for details Register Now! $80.00 per person Name. Company. Address _ For Information & Reservations WODCON, Box 1800, San Pedro, Calif. 90733, U.S.A. Cable WODCON Tel. (213) 832-8366 SINGAPORE'S 400.000DWT DRYDOCK TAKING SHAPE AND STILL ON SCHEDULE Sembawang's new 400,000 dwt super dry dock is taking shape on schedule! The dock will be operational by the end of December 1974. When we say Total Service we mean just that! We shall be ready to provide the full range of repairs to the new generation VLCC's at exactly the right time! NEW DOCK CHARAC-TERISTICS Docking capacity 400,TOO dwt, no-minal (Capable of docking the 477,TOO dwt. Globtik Tankers). Length between gate and dock head: 1260 ft (384M) Width of entrance: 210 ft (64M) Docking draught (depth over sill): 30 ft (9M)- Filling Time (empty dock): 1 % hours Emptying Time (empty dock): 3 hours EXISTING SERVICES Check this list of repair, mainte- nance and marine engi-neering back-up facilities. Couple the list with the ex-pertise of a 3,500 strong highly-skilled work-force and you are on the way to speedier, less costly ser-vice. Call Sembawang for more facts. DOCKS Graving dock of 100,OCX) tons. 5 Floating docks from 1,000 to 30,000 tons lifting capacity. BERTHS 1,524 metres of sheltered repair berths with 12.2 me-tres of water. CRANAGE 24 Docks & berths cranes of up to 30 tons lift. Float- ing crane of 152.4 metric tons. WORKSHOPS 22 Hectares of workshops offering complete engi- neering facilities within the Shipyard. SLOP RECEP- TION Slop reception facili-ties, 18" dia. discharge line & 7500 tons reception tank. MANPOWER 3500 skilled workmen and an ex-perienced management team of 400. Round the clock working. REPRE- SENTATION Agents throughout the world. 3S Sembawang Shipyard 9 "Limited Sembawang P.O. Box 3, Singapore,27. Telephone 592121 /593121 (20 lines) Telex RS 21345 Cable Semdok Singapore Agent In U.S.A.: Midland Marine Brok. Inc., One Penn Plaza, New York, N.Y. 10001 Tlx 232081 — Cable Midmarbork New York Telephone (212) 736-2868 46 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
