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ODECO To Build $46-Million Offshore Rig Of New Class Ocean Drilling & Exploration Company and Japanese Industrial Land Development Company have announced that they have signed a letter of intent with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Hiro- shima, Japan, to construct the first unit of a new class of self- propelled semisubmersible drill- ing rigs at an overall cost of $46 million. According to Hugh J. Kelly, president and chief operating officer of ODECO, the new unit —ODECO's 29th—will be named the Ocean Bounty and will have increased capacity over previously built rigs of its type. "Mitsubishi has previously built two other rigs for ODECO and its Japanese partner, and we are looking forward to a completion date in about May 1976 for this newest unit", Mr. Kelly said. The major changes in the Ocean Bounty over other similar units are the topside load capa- city, which will be increased from 2,000 to 2,500 short tons, and the mooring capability, up to 3,000-feet water depth. The hulls will be lengthened somewhat, and the column diameters will also be increased in order to accomplish these improved capabilities. Designed to operate in any drill- ing environment in waters any- where in the world, the Ocean Bounty will have a lower hull length of 340 feet, a width of 262 feet and quarters for 83 men. Its combination chain-wire rope spread mooring system will en- able it to drill from a floating position in water depths up to 1,500 feet, and with minor addi- tions, to 3,000 feet for a drilling depth of 25,000 feet. Hills-McCanna To Supply Valves For LNG Ships Hills-McCanna Company, Car- pentersville, 111. 60010, has re- ceived a contract totaling more than $!/2 million for ball valves to be used on the first giant U.S. carriers of liquefied natural gas (LNG). The contract was awarded to Hills-McCanna by the Quincy Shipbuilding Division of General Dynamics Corporation. Initially, a total of seven General Dynamics LNG supertankers will be equip- ped with Hills-McCanna ball valves. In announcing the contract, Hills-McCanna president Harry W. Wilcox Jr. noted that "U.S. demand for natural gas is in- creasing at approximately twice the rate of domestic supplies. To help relieve this shortage, Amer- ican shipyards are expected to build more than 100 cryogenic supertankers to transport liquid natural gas from ports through- out the world. Selection of Hills- McCanna ball valves for the na- tion's first LNG supertankers is significant recognition of our products and our people who make them. In essence, Hills- McCanna ball valves are being selected for this critical applica- tion because they have been proven reliable in the extreme environments involved with cryo- genic service." Hills-McCanna valves called for in the General Dynamics contract will be employed in elaborate cryo- genic flow control systems aboard the new supertankers. Natural gas "liquefies" at minus 260 de- grees Fahrenheit, and is kept colder than this temperature throughout all phases of cargo handling and containment. Hills- McCanna ball valves and other flow control components used on the giant ships will be specially built to manage the frigid LNG cargo. General Dynamics' first super- tanker, now under construction at Quincy, Mass., will transport LNG from Algeria to East Coast ports of the United States. Sched- uled for completion in December 1975, it will carry 125,000 cubic meters of LNG—enough natural gas to heat a city of over one million population for a month. If it's steel, Bertie Spell understands it. He ought to. He's been working with it for twenty-two years. As the foreman of our hull department, he knows a little something about ship fitting. (In fact, he's probably the best plate hanger in the southeast.) Bertie Spell is good at his job, and he's only one of a whole crew of good men. Plus this is a good town, and the weather's good year 'round. Come see us. Whether you need voyage repairs or a major conversion, Bertie will see you get a super job. 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 Presenting our man of steel. September 1, 1974 19
