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$81 -Million Tanker American Spirit To Transport Oil From Alaskan Pipeline To Panama Canal The American Spirit, first of two 265,000-deadweight-ton class tank- ers built for Gulf Oil Corporation at Bethlehem Steel Corporation's Sparrows Point shipyard, sails down Chesapeake Bay on her trials. The American Spirit, a super- tanker built by Bethlehem Steel Corporation for Gulf Oil Corpora- tion at a base contract cost of approximately $81.4 million, was christened recently at the steel company's Sparrows Point (Md.) Yard. Mrs. Jerry McAfee, wife of Gulf's chairman of the board, officiated at the noon ceremony with the traditional bottle of champagne. The American Spirit is the first of two supertankers being built by Bethlehem Steel for Gulf Oil. Her sistership, the American In- dependence, is expected to be de- livered in late summer or early fall of 1977. The supertanker will leave im- mediately for the U.S. West Coast to go into service between Port Valdez, Alaska, and offshore of the Panama Canal west coast. She will transport crude oil from the Alaskan pipeline for transfer to * Mrs. Jerry McAfee, wife of the chairman of the board of Gulf Oil Corporation, pulls a wire that smashes a bottle of champagne to christen the American Spirit, as her husband smilingly lends moral support. smaller vessels at the Canal for shipment to Gulf Coast ports. The 1,100-foot vessel, carrying 2,014,000 barrels of oil, represent- ing 98 percent capacity, will travel at a speed of approximately 15 knots. She is one of Bethlehem's 265,000-deadweight-ton class, the largest merchant vessels ever con- structed in the United States. The keel for the American Spirit was laid July 17, 1975. The supertanker was constructed ac- cording to requirements of the American Bureau of Shipping, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Public Health Service, and the Federal Communications Commission. Principal characteristics of the vessel include one complete deck with raised forecastle head, cy- lindrical bow, horn-type rudder, straight transom stern and an after-superstructure. The American Spirit is equipped with the latest navigational, safe- ty, communications and antipol- lution aids. She was designed to meet the requirements of the October 1971 resolution of the Inter-Governmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) regarding maximum size of cargo tanks. Clean discharge water will be assured through use of a slop tank system utilizing two of the cargo tanks and an oil/water sep- arator. Instrumentation to detect oil in the ballast water being pumped overboard will give an audible and visual alarm, with automatic immediate shutdown capability. Protection in the cargo tanks will be furnished by an inert gas system which will provide a con- stant nonexplosive atmosphere within them. A centralized cargo control sys- tem provides for remote tank level indication and remote control of all hydraulically operated tank and pump room valves, as well as remote control of three 24,000-gal- lons-per-minute cargo oil pumps and two 1,200-gallons-per-minute stripping pumps. A cargo tank high-level alarm and automatic shutdown system is provided to protect against inadvertent over- flow while loading. Protection against water pollu- tion when the vessel is in coastal waters or in port will be provided by a sewage treatment plant and a large sewage holding tank. The breadth of the vessel is 178 feet. Its depth is 86 feet. The summer deadweight is 262,376 long tons on a draft of 67 feet 1-13/16 inches. Loaded displace- ment is 305,317 tons. Navigation equipment includes an echo depth sounding and re- cording system, a 10-CM radar, a 3.2-CM radar and a collision avoidance system capable of op- erating with either radar. A radio direction finder, a Loran receiver and a satellite navigation receiver are also furnished, as well as the latest computer type Omega sys- tem. Communication equipment con- sisting of the main and emergency telegraph console is installed in the ship's radio room. The vessel also has a VHF radiotelephone and a single sideband radio trans- ceiver system with operating ca- pabilities from the pilothouse. A VHF transceiver system for communications with the terminal during cargo-handling operations is installed in the cargo control room. The vessel's clean ballast water capacity in four tanks is more than 32,000 tons; and the super- tanker's 11,950-ton fuel capacity provides a cruising range of 20,000 miles. In addition to the second Gulf ship under construction, the Spar- rows Point Yard is also building a U.S. Navy drydock and two 27,- 340,000-deadweight-ton container- ships. After the christening, Donald T. Burkhardt, Sparrows Point Yard general manager, was the host at a luncheon in honor of the sponsor, Mrs. McAfee. Kimman Of Rotterdam Names Linnenbank Int'l Kimman Mooring Systems, Rot- terdam, the Netherlands, has an- nounced the appointment of Lin- nenbank International, Inc., 2801 South Post Oak Road, Suite 190, Houston, Texas 77056, as their U.S. representative in the Gulf Coast area for their quick release hook and other products. Kimman's quick release hooks can be manufactured to operate manually or hydraulically and can be mounted with electric capstans. Other products include capstans, gangway towers, bollards and var- ious mooring hardware. Pfitzco International Naval Architectural Firm Formed In Tampa The formation of Pfitzco Inter- national, a firm of naval archi- tects and marine suppliers with offices at 2411 West Cypress Street, Tampa, Fla. 33609, has been announced by Fritz Schmid, president. The new firm will be engaged in the sale of all types of marine equipment and supplies, whether new or used; complete naval ar- chitecture services from the de- sign phase to the final construc- tion ; the procurement of all types of local, state and Federal permits for any type of marine activity, and turnkey construction man- agement of any marine-related project, including vessel fabrica- tion and marina developments. Alexander Names Rex Gray Manager Mobile Ship Chandlery Rex Gray William B. Alexander, president of Alexander Industries, Inc., headquartered in New Orleans, La., and with facilities in Hous- ton, Texas, Houma, La., and New York City, announced the ap- pointment of Rex Gray as general manager of Alexander's recent acquisition, the Mobile Ship Chan- dlery, Inc. in Mobile, Ala. Mobile Ship, the area's oldest chan- dlery, has been serving the Gulf South with pride since 1875. Mr. Gray has a long and varied background in the marine indus- try. He comes to Mobile Ship after having successfully operated his own manufacturers agency for many years. A graduate of Au- burn University, he is a native of the Mobile area and an active member of The U.S. Propeller Club, Port of Mobile, and The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers. Brochure Describes Union Mechling Waterways Fleet Union Mechling Corp., a subsid- iary of Dravo Corp., has published a new 20-page brochure illustrat- ing the various barges and tow- boats in the company's inland waterways fleet and its operating rights. Copies are available from Union Mechling Corp., One Oliver Plaza, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222. 10 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
