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Gulf Fleet's 102nd Vessel Is Powered By EMD Diesels Gulf Fleet Marine Corporation has accepted delivery of the Gulf Fleet No. 44 (shown above), a 190 by 40 by 14-foot towing' supply vessel. She was built in Houma, La., by Quality Ship- yards, Inc., another Gulf Fleet company, and represents the 102nd vessel in this rapidly grow- ing fleet. Powered by twin GM Electro- Motive Division 16-645E2 diesel engines that develop a total of 3,900 bhp at 900 rpm through Reintjes WAV 481 3:1 reduction gears, this vessel is capable of sustaining speeds up to 13 knots. The No. 44 has a clear deck space of 96 by 32 feet, with a maximum deck cargo capacity of 522 long tons. Underdeck, she can carry up to 520 tons of drill wa- ter. The vessel has bulk tanks with a 5,800-cubic-foot capacity, as well as liquid mud tanks with a 1,250-barrel capacity that pro- vide for the carriage of 189 tons of liquid mud. Also provided in this versatile vessel are 1,250- barrel calcium chloride tanks. Its towing package consists of a double drum SMATCO 66 DAW 200 towing winch with a drum capacity of 2,500 feet of 2-inch cable on each drum, and a 5-foot by 8-foot stern roller. With a measured bollard pull of 70,000 pounds, this vessel is classed by the American Bureau of Ship- ping as +A-1 (AMS), All Ocean Towing, and is built in accordance with specifications of the United States Coast Guard. Gulf Fleet president Richard M. Currence attributes a great deal of the success and strength of the company to an extremely active construction program that he anticipates will continue. Gulf Fleet Marine provides a wide range of services to meet the needs of the offshore petroleum and offshore construction indus- tries, and is one of the Houston Natural Gas group of companies. Newport News Acquires Plant In North Carolina For Sub Support Work Newport News Shipbuilding, a Tenneco company, has purchased a 412,000-square-foot manufac- turing plant on 50 acres of land in Arden, N.C., near Asheville. The 12-year-old plant will be used for light machining operations to support an expanded program of overhauling submarines and sur- face ships for the U.S. Navy. Edward J. Campbell, president and chief executive officer of Newport News Shipbuilding, said: "We are in the process of roughly doubling our capabilities for sub- marine overhauls, and have com- pleted construction of a second drydock devoted to this work. We need additional light machin- ing capacity to support this grow- ing program, and the Arden fa- cility is ideally suited for this type of work. We first considered the expansion of our operations here in Newport News, but suit- able facilities simply were not available. "We then conducted extensive economic studies of sites in Greeneville, Tenn., near our exist- ing sheet metal facility, and later of the Arden facility. We deter- mined that Arden was the more desirable location because of the size and layout of the existing plant and total acreage available for possible future expansion. "There will be no reduction in work force at either Newport News or Greeneville as a result of acquiring the Arden facility." Start-up operations are ex- pected to begin at Arden in July. Present plans call for a total work force there of about 300 people by the end of 1982. The plant was built in 1969 by Walker Man- ufacturing Company, another di- vision of Tenneco Inc., for the manufacture of automotive ex- haust components. Conference Papers On Coal-Fired Ships Available From Polytech "It may be said that a favor- able economic argument for using coal as a ship's fuel can be dem- onstrated today in a number of bulk-carrying trades. Realistic predictions of future price trends in energy supplies suggest that the argument is likely to become even stronger in the 10-15 years that lie ahead. In this regard, we should not overlook the active de- velopment work now being under- taken in the field of more highly efficient (coal-burning) steam- generating plants." The above quotation summarizes the con- census of opinion of the recent Second International Coal Fired Ships Conference held recently in New York City. The conference was sponsored by Shipping World & Shipbuilder and Polytech International and organized by Conference Orga- nisers International Limited. Twelve economic and technical papers, prepared by U.S. and for- eign experts on shipping and ma- chinery, were presented during the two-day conference. Copies of the papers may be obtained from Polytech Inter- national, Cardigan House, 1 Car- digan Street, Luton LU1 1RP, England at a price of $63. Kongsberg Relocates To New Facilities Kongsberg North America, Inc. has moved to new and larger of- fice and service facilities at 135 Fort Lee Road, Leonia, N.J. 07605. Their new telephone number is (201) 947-6788; telex 135115. Kongsberg is the North Amer- ican marketing arm of Kongs- berg AS, a leading manufacturer of offshore oil exploration equip- ment and shipboard systems. Kongsberg is also the exclusive U.S. distributor for Robertson AS and Norcontrol, both divi- sions of Kongsberg. Robertson manufactures a wide variety of autopilots, the SKR-80 gyrocom- pass and steering systems for commercial vessels and recrea- tional boats. Norcontrol manu- factures computerized navigation and engine room systems for commercial ships. Robertson products are sold in the U.S. and Canada through a network of 86 authorized marine electronics dealers in most major ports. Kongsberg and Norcontrol products are sold directly to the marine industry. £n^ineereJ / \oducli and Servicei Atco Marine Corporation B03 DEAN STREET / BROOKLYN. N Y. 1 1 23B C21 2) 857-1 050 telex: 22335V (ATCO UR) Cable Address: AMTRADISC NEW YORK SERVING THE MARINE INDUSTRY FIBERGLASS LIFEBOATS (PER S.O.L.A.S. SPECIFICATIONS) FROM STOCK CALL US ON YOUR REQUIREMENTS Write 122 on Reader Service Card 6 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
