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$3-Million Surface Effect Ship Award To Philadelphia Gear Philadelphia Gear of King of Prussia, Pa. 19406, has been cho- sen to design, manufacture and test the propulsor reduction gear- box for the 3,000-ton Surface Ef- fect Ship (3KSES). The planned cost for this effort through de- sign, development, test and de- livery of one ship set of four propulsor reduction gearboxes, plus one development propulsor, will exceed $3,000,000 in the next four years. An SES is a marine vessel that operates on a cushion of air to significantly reduce its drag. As a result of the reduced drag, a large SES can be propelled at speeds ranging up to 100 knots. By comparison, conventional ships have maximum speed limitations, depending on size, mission, hull configuration, etc., of less than half that of the SES. The Navy's 3,000-ton Surface Effect Ship Program represents the culmination of 15 years of research and development to pro- duce an oceangoing operational surface effect ship prototype. Ad- vanced ships of this type are Fabrication:an ^ort nozz'e ta^es The Harvey plant, like all of Avondale, is well versed in fabrication. Here you see a 10 foot diameter kort nozzle undergoing the varied steps from shapeless steel plate to a functioning member of a tug. It's nice to know there's a place that takes every type of steel fabrication in its stride. Kort nozzles, rudders, stern rollers, deck houses, dredge ladders, marine tanks . . . you name it. That place is the Harvey Quick Repair Division of Avondale Shipyards ... "The Around the Clock Marine Service." HARVEY QUICK REPAIR DIVISION Avondale Shipyards, Inc. A SUBSIDIARY OF OGDEN CORPORATION Post Office Box 116 • Harvey, Louisiana 70059 (504) 341-4211 capable of extraordinarily high speeds, since they ride over the water on a cushion of air con- tained under the ship. The 3KSES design has an ap- proximate length of 270 feet, a maximum beam of about 105 feet, and a cushion height of 18 feet. The ship will be able to carry a crew of 125 men at speeds three times that of conventional ships. For propulsion, General Electric LM 2500 gas turbine engines will drive four Aerojet water jet pro- pulsors. Cushion air will be pro- vided by six Aerojet centrifugal fans powered by two LM 2500 gas turbine engines. The ship will be equipped with helicopters and/or V/STOL aircraft, as well as weapons and sensors for test purposes. Philadelphia Gear was selected because of its experience in large marine gearbox fabrication for the U.S. Navy and shipbuilders throughout the world. Their ex- perience includes fabrication of supercavitating propellers used on the U.S. Navy 100-ton Surface Effect Ship that recently set a speed record of 103 mph. The award is by the Aerojet Liquid Rocket Company of Sacramento, Calif., under a subcontract from Rohr Marine Incorporated, a sub- sidiary of Rohr Industries, Inc. of Chula Vista, Calif. Jonathan Feffer Named President SSI Navigation Thomas S. Tan, president of Itel Corporation's Transportation Services Group, has announced the appointment of Jonathan Fef- fer to president of SSI Navigation. SSI Navigation is engaged in the chartering of ships for the transportation of dry and liquid bulk commodities. The company owns and operates a fleet of eight vessels, with four additional ves- sels on order to be delivered in 1978. Mr. Feffer joined SSI from Maritime Overseas Corporation, Agents & Brokers for Overseas Shipholding Group (NYSE). He will be headquartered in SSI Nav- igation's New York headquarters. He received his A.B. degree from New York University. The Transportation Services Group of Itel Corporation is one of the world's largest lessors of diversified transportation equip- ment. Its operations include SSI Container and SSI Rail, as well as SSI Navigation. By the end of 1978, it is expected that Itel's Transportation Services Group will have a fleet of equipment in excess of $700 million. Itel Corporation, San Francisco, Calif., markets and leases capital equipment and provides related services. Itel concentrates its ef- forts in two of the largest cate- gories of capital equipment — transportation and computer equipment. 24 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News