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A boarding exercise underway on a davit-launched version of the RFD Survival liferaft. Britain-Marine Industry (continued from page 34) where the rafts are stowed at a height of 4.5 meters (almost 15 feet) or more above the waterline, as "dry-shod" evacuation is required for this situation under the new reg- ulations. In addition to inflatable liferafts, RFD has made a name for itself with the Marine Evacuation System (MES). This slide arrangement for the rapid and safe evacuation of substantial numbers of passengers aboard ferries and other vessels has been adopted by vessel operators in the U.K., Canada, and New Zea- land. Circle 59 on Reader Service Card Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce Ltd. in Coventry is the government-owned builder of marine and aero gas turbine en- gines. Since 1958 the company has manufactured more than 850 ma- rine gas turbines, ranging from the 1,400-hp Gnome engine to the 5,300-hp Tyne, 18,800-hp Spey, and 28,000-hp Olympus. The Olympus gas turbine has been widely installed in destroyers and frigates of the Royal Navy and many foreign navies, while the Spey engines, two per ship, are being installed in the latest Type 22 fri- gates. To date, 57 Spey gas turbines have been delivered or are on order from clients that include the Japa- nese Marine Defense Force. A new 24,000-hp model Spey engine is be- ing developed and will be available in 1989. Circle 60 on Reader Service Card STC STC International Marine, for- merly known as the International Marine Radio Company, produces the Mascot 2000 satellite communi- cations system, the first all-British satcom to gain INMARSAT approv- al. Notable installations include the P&O liners Royal Princess and Sea Princess, and the Royal Yacht Brit- tania. STC also manufactures, at Mit- cham in Surrey, portable lifeboat radios to SOLAS requirements, and an automatic radio direction finder, the ADF 790. Circle 61 on Reader Service Card Stone Manganese Stone Manganese Marine Ltd. is said to be the oldest and the largest propeller company in the world. The original company, which was started by Josiah Stone, in 1845 made the propeller for the SS Great Britain, the first ship to be driven solely by a screw propeller. At its Birkenhead Works, SMM now has the capability for the simultaneous melting of sufficient metal to make propellers of up to 100 tons in fin- ished weight. The company is now owned by John Langham, and is the princi- pal company within Langham In- dustries Ltd. It has subsidiary and associated fixed-pitch propellers in the U.K., Canada, France, Brazil, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, and, in the U.S., Ferguson Propeller Corporation of Hoboken, N.J. SMM did most of the original research on economy propellers, and is still a world leader in this field. To date, it has designed and manufac- tured some 30 of these large screws for tankers/bulk carriers, container- ships, and passenger liners/cruise ships, and has others on order. It made the world's largest propellers for five 357,000-dwt tankers owned by Zenith Shipping. They each weighed 70 tons and were 11,000 millimeters (36 feet) in diameter. As a result of the considerable fuel savings being made by its tank- ers that have been retrofitted with economy propellers, Shell Tankers UK and Deutsche Shell last year placed further orders with SMM for this type propeller. The U.S. agent for SMM is Am- power Corporation of North Bergen, N. J. Circle 62 on Reader Service Card Vickers The Marine Engineering Division of Vickers Pic has total annual sales of more than 60 million pounds. The Division is one of the world's leading suppliers of motion-control equip- ment for the merchant shipping and offshore industries and for naval ap- plications. Formed in 1980, Vickers Marine consists of eight companies, all of which have strong international re- putations in the marine field. Head- quarters of the Division is in Edin- burgh, Scotland, and the companies within it are: Brown Brothers & Company Ltd., Edinburgh; Jered Brown Brothers Inc., Troy, Mich.; John Hastie of Greenock Ltd., Scot- land; Mitchell Bearings, Newcastle, England; SOFEC Inc., Houston; Stone Vickers Ltd., Greenwich, England; Vickers Japan KK, Tokyo; and Vickers Marine Controls, Edin- burgh. The major products of Brown Brothers are fin and tank stabi- lizers, steering gear, motion com- pensators, and riser tensioners (Circle 63 on RSC). Jered Brown Brothers manufactures steering gear, cargo and personnel elevators, deck-edge elevators, windlasses, winches, and capstans (Circle 64 on RSC). The specialties of John Hastie are steering gear, derrick cranes, and jib cranes (Circle 65 on RSC). Mitchell makes marine thrust bearings and blocks, marine tunnel and aftermost bearings, ped- estal bearings, and vertical bearings (Circle 66 on RSC). SOFEC specializes in single and catenary anchor leg moorings (Cir- cle 67 on RSC). Stone Vickers produces controllable-pitch propel- lers, tunnel and rotatable thrusters, and watertight doors (Circle 68 on RSC). The product line of Vickers Marine Controls includes micropro- cessor-based control systems for stabilizers, steering, C-P propellers, thrusters, elevators, as well as a joystick positioning system (Circle 69 on RSC). It is appropriate to mention at this point that the intent of this article is to deal primarily with U.K.-based organizations and, in addition, because of space and deadline limitations, the possible omis- sion of some leading firms is purely unin- tentional. of BALL VALVES Made to U.S. Coast Guard & Navy Specifications Complete range of two- way Bronze Valves in choice of alloys with <
