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Mar Fast Sealift Ship Regulus, delivered to Navy recently by NASSCO, is one of the largest and fastest cargo ships in the world at 946 feet and 30+ knots. Principals at naming ceremony included (L to R): Comm. Richard Donnelly, Commander, Military Sealift Command; Rear Adm. George Davis Jr., Commander, Naval Surface Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet; William H. Deasy, president and COO, Morrison-Knudsen Company; C. Larry French, chairman of NASSCO; Ms. Tina Edlund, matron of honor; U.S. Senator Pete Wilson; Mrs. Wilson, sponsor; Richard H. Vortmann, NASSCO president; and Alfred W. Lutter Jr., NASSCO senior vice president, marketing and business affairs. Conversion Of Fast Sealift Ship 'Regulus' Completed By NASSCO A naming ceremony was held re- cently at National Steel and Ship- building Company (NASSCO) in San Diego for the USNS Regulus (T-AKR-292), a Fast Sealift Ship (FS) converted for the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command. Among those participating in the event were: U.S. Senator Pete Wilson, keynote speaker; Mrs. Pete Wilson, guest of honor and sponsor of the ship; Mrs. Tina Edlund, matron of honor; Law- rence Korb, Assistant Secretary for Manpower Installation and Lo- gistics, Department of Defense; Rear Adm. George Davis Jr., Naval Surface Force Commander, Pacific Fleet; William J. Deasy, president of Morrison-Knudsen; Comm. Richard Donnelly, Com- mander, Military Sealift Command; C. Larry French, chairman of NASSCO; Richard H. Vortmann, NASSCO president; and Alfred W. Lutter Jr., senior vice president of NASSCO. The Regulus and her sister ships are among the largest and fastest cargo ships in the world, with an overall length of 946 feet and speed of more than 30 knots. Including the Regulus, five vessels of the FSS pro- gram have been delivered to the MSC; all eight T-AKRs will be con- tracted-operated by civilian mar- iners, and held in reserve status until needed for contingencies or used in DoD exercises. The Fast Sealift Ships are former Sea-Land SL-7 containerships. They are being converted to give them roll-on/roll-off capability; heavy- and medium-lift cargo-han- dling equipment for a self-sustain- ing potential independent of a de- veloped port facility; an emergency helicopter landing area; and side ports to facilitate rapid loading and discharge. They will provide rapid sealift capability for the transport of military equipment from the U.S. to any part of the world. MSC is responsible for providing the necessary sealift capability to rapidly deploy military forces over- seas and sustain them for as long as operational requirements dictate. The Command also operates auxil- iary ships that deliver supplies to Navy combatant ships while under way, oceanographic and survey ves- sels, and tankers and dry cargo ships that deliver Defense Department cargo worldwide. i'/' -V !*" \ v v' nJ V \i| $ y' M V/ v & (V*\ ^ M\ \ ty^ rS . V" fc^I rk tok/i V-; ill Drawing of specialized vessel being built for the Soviet Union by the Wartsila Turku Ship- yard, which will transport floating oil drilling rigs. Wartsila Wins Contract To Build Rig Transport Vessel For USSR ASRY's 1984 Revenues Up Nearly 20 Percent An occupancy rate of 84 percent during 1984 helped Arab Shipbuild- ing & Repair Yard (ASRY) of Bah- rain to boost revenues up by nearly 20 percent over 1983. The yard cele- brated its tenth anniversary last year. Chairman of ASRY Sheikh Daij Bin Khalifa Al-Khalifa said he was particularly encouraged by the success of the non-marine side of ASRY's business in the limited time the company has had to develop it. Its move toward diversification has resulted in a contract for the fabri- cation and erection of 14 storage tanks for the Ministry of Works, Power and Water, and steel fabrica- tion of 854 tons for the Mina Abdul- la refinery project in Kuwait. During the year, the shipyard completed a major overhaul on Qa- tar General Petroleum Company's offshore mobile drilling rig Dana, worth almost $4 million; repair of a 62.5-ton propeller for the ULCC Sa- fina A1 Arab (357,023 dwt) owned by Salen Tanker of Sweden; and re- pairs to Saipem of Milan's large pipe-laying barge Castoro Otto (190,984 tons). A "remarkable" increase in main engine overhauls and in the amount of pipe work carried out helped me- chanical work to continue at a high level. Sheikh Al-Khalifa, in looking to the future, said he saw encouraging indications in the shipping industry, pointing out that the number of tankers in lay-up has fallen quite sharply and that charter rates should improve over the next few years. "We also anticipate high traf- fic in the Arabian Gulf of chemicals and iron ore and in due course the carriage of liquefied gas," he added. The yard's links with Lisnave Shipyards of Portugal are to contin- ue, although the Bahrain-based fa- cility is gradually reducing the num- ber of employees on secondment as its own technical expertise in- creases. For further literature containing full information on Arab Shipbuild- ing & Repair, Circle 51 on Reader Service Card MarAd Awards Contract For Three Workboats To Quality Shipbuilders The Maritime Administration has awarded a $799,999.95 contract to Quality Shipbuilders, Inc. of Moss Point, Miss., for construction of three fleet service vessels. The con- tract also stipulates an option for nine additional vessels if funds be- come available. The 57-foot, steel workboats will be used by MarAd's National De- fense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) per- sonnel to maintain and preserve NDRF vessels. The vessels are ex- pected to be completed in seven months. MarAd maintains the fleet as a ready source of vessels for use dur- ing national emergencies. Wartsila's Turku Shipyard in Finland recently received an order from the Soviet Union for a special- ized vessel intended for transporta- tion of floating oil drilling rigs weighing up to 20,000 tons. The con- tract, valued at about $42 million, was won against fierce international competition. Scheduled for delivery at the beginning of 1987, the vessel will provide about 800 man-years of employment for the Turku yard. The 34,000-dwt transporter will have an overall length of 567.58 feet, beam of 131.23 feet, and depth at the side of 39.37 feet. Main propul- sion will be by two medium-speed Wartsila Vasa 18V32 diesels with a total output of 15,650 bhp at 800 rpm. Service speed will be 14 knots. The vessel will be able to trans- port on its deck the biggest jackup or semi-submersible drilling rig now in service. The transporter will load a rig by submerging to a draft of about 69 feet, after which the rig will be towed into position above the cargo deck. The ballast tanks will then be emptied using compressed air, raising the vessel and the rig on deck into the transporting position. In addition to its transporting role, the vessel can be used for the drydocking of drilling rigs and other ships. Loading, transporting, and unloading operations will be moni- tored and controlled by a Wartsila- developed computer system. 22 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News
