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House Approves Intermodal Container Transport Act The Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Act of 1992, H.R. 3598, which addresses the problem of overweight containers and trail- ers in intermodal transportation, was recently approved by the House of Representatives with an amend- ment. Rep. Norman Mineta (D-Calif.) sponsored the amendment to the bill that makes "minor and techni- cal changes to H.R. 3598 to respond to the suggestions of a broad coali- tion of shippers, carriers and others involved in the intermodal trans- portation of containers and trail- ers." The Intermodal Safe Container Transportation Act was sponsored by Rep. Helen Bentley (R-Md.). If the bill is enacted, H.R. 3598 will make it a requirement for a shipper to provide a carrier involved in intermodal transportation with a written certification of the gross cargo weight and a reasonable de- scription of the contents of the cargo, which must be passed on to each subsequent person in the intermodal chain. New Service Contract Rules Issued By FMC The Federal Maritime Commis- sion (FMC) recently voted to issue proposed rules that would allow two or more unaffiliated shippers to ne- gotiate rate discounts, known as service contracts, with ocean carri- ers. A rule that guarantees the rights of carrier rate-setting conference members to take independent rate actions without conference restric- tions was also finalized by the four- member commission. The FMC also began a new in- quiry to gather data on how carriers deal with shipper's associations and ocean-freight consolidators in nego- tiating rate discount-agreements. ships and platforms; to operate winches and cranes with torques up to 4,700 ft./lbs; and in hydro-electric power plants with capacities up to three megawatts. In-house quality control assurance system meets the requirements of ISO 9001 and the leading classification societies, in- cluding: DnV; ABS; and LRS. Custom gearbox design and manufacture is a specialty at Hytek, with short delivery times available. Gearboxes can include a single, hy- draulic clutch for all outputs or indi- vidual hydraulic clutches for each output. Parts and services are avail- able to customers worldwide on a 24 hour basis. To receive additional free infor- mation from McGowan Marine about the Hytek line of gearboxes, Circle 12 on Reader Service Card USMSA Elects New Officers The U.S. Marine Safety Associa- tion (USMSA) announced the elec- tion of its new officers. The officials are: president David B. Smith, of SMR Technologies, Uniontown, Ohio; first vice president Burt W. 'Tom' Thompson, N.J. Marine Sciences Consortium, Fort Hancock, N. J.; sec- ond vice president James W. O'Connor, Life Raft & Survival Equipment, Portsmouth, R.I.; and treasurer Rollie C. Herman, Westpac Marine Services, Inc., Tacoma, Wash. The USMSA is comprised of more than 130 companies and individuals involved in the design and/or manu- facture of marine safety equipment, the service or sale of safety equip- ment, or provide training in the use of such equipment. The association is dedicated to promoting the high- est possible marine safety standards and creating wide-spread awareness in the use of marine safety equip- ment. For more information on the USMSA or the 1993 Safety Seminar, contact Kristina Hagman Gold- field, USMSA executive director, at (215) 564-3484. ana to Bonny Gas Transport. The action permits the use of the vessel in foreign-to-foreign trading and stipulates that all seafarers must be U.S. citizens. At the request of Argent Marine Services, Inc., MarAd has agreed to suspend, for five years, special trad- ing restrictions on the LNGs Arzew and Southern and permit their use in foreign-to-foreign trading. MarAd said that events beyond Argent's control have made the ship's employment in trade between the U.S. and a foreign country impos- sible or impracticable. Once again, the agency has emphasized that all seamen onboard both vessels must be U.S. citizens. Following a request by Cabot LNG Shipping Corporation, MarAd also agreed to permit the use of the LNG Gamma in foreign-to-foreign trad- ing, under the same conditions that apply to the Arzen and Southern. Lloyd's Classes Largest Ship Built In Rumania The largest ship ever built in Ru- mania, the 173,000-dwt Ferosa, has been classed by Lloyd's Register (LR). The bulk carrier was deliv- ered by builders Santierul Naval Constantza SA (SN-SA) to owners Trinity and Taurus, Ltd., who will employ the vessel in exporting iron ore from South Africa. FEROSA Equipment List Main engine MAN B&W Auxiliary engines Sulzer Diesel Shaft generator Renk Tacke Emergency generator MAN B&W Boilers Aalborg Ciserv, SN-SA, Meconst Evaporator Alfa Laval Steering gear Frydenbo-Mjolner Propeller Elnav Anchors Bowe Deck machinery..Menarom Hydraulic Brattvaag Hatch covers MacGregor, SN-SA Firefighting system Hamworthy Lifesaving Severnav, Turnu Severin Main radio station JRC VHF radio Raytheon VHF/UHF portables NAVTEX McGowan Marine Named U.S. Agent For Hytek Gearboxes McGowan Marine, Inc., of Westport, Mass., has been named the U.S. agent for Siggerud, Nor- way-based Hytek A/S Ingeniorer. Since 1965, Hytek has manufactured over 1,400 different P.T.O. gearbox configurations and is a well known supplier to industry, offshore facili- ties, power plants, fishing and sup- ply vessels. Hytek gearboxes, which can ac- commodate up to 12 hydraulic pumps, have been installed: to power gear aboard fishing vessels; for driv- ing firefighting pumps on supply December, 1992 MarAd/MSB Makes Rulings Regarding LNGs The Maritime Administration (MarAd) and the Maritime Subsidy Board (MSB) have made several rul- ings regarding the sale and employ- ment of U.S.-operated liquefied natu- ral gas (LNG) carriers. The sale of the LNG Louisiana and transfer of construction-differ- ential subsidy (CDS) contract obli- gations from Lachmar Corporation, Inc., to Argent Marine-Louisiana, Inc., was approved by MarAd and the MSB. Under the terms of the CDS con- tract, the board also approved the 25-year time charter of the Louisi- The Ferosa has a length of 978 feet, a breadth of 151 feet and an 80- foot depth. In addition to being constructed to LR's latest bulk car- rier Rules, the ship will be fitted with hull monitoring equipment on its arrival in Cape Town. This equip- ment will provide the vessel's mas- ter with a visual indication of actual hull motions and stresses. A record- ing facility will also be fitted to en- able the analysis of collected data. Once fitted with the monitoring and recording equipment, the Ferosa will be assigned LR's SEA (R) notation. The newbuilding capacity of the Constantza shipyard will be occu- pied for the next five years by simi- lar sized bulk carriers, which will be built for Trinity and Taurus and Exmar. All of these ships will also be built to LR classification. President Signs Bill Penalizing Drift Net Users A bill that mandates trade sanc- tions on fish products and sport fish- ing equipment against any country fishing with drift nets in the North Pacific Ocean next year and extend- ing the penalties to the North Atlan- tic in 1994 was recently signed by President Bush. In the event that the sanctions prove ineffective in stopping drift- net fishing, the President is autho- rized by the new law to impose addi- tional sanctions on other exports, such as televisions and cars. The United Nations adopted a resolution last year that bans the use of drift nets on the high seas effective January 1,1993. The domi- nant users of drift nets are Japan, Taiwan and South Korea, who use the nets to catch squid in the North Pacific. Opponents of drift net fish- ing say that the net's indiscrimi- nately kill all marine life in their path. Regulations were adopted last year by the Administration banning U.S. imports of fish caught with drift nets and placed Taiwan and South Korea on notice that sanctions could be imposed against them if their use of the nets continued. FMC Proposes To Allow Cruise Operators Self-Insurance A conditional regulatory change that would allow passenger ship op- erators to self-insure for indemnify- ing passengers against non-perfor- mance has been proposed by the Fed- eral Maritime Commission (FMC). To qualify for self-insurance, op- erators would have to satisfy the following conditions: maintain 110 percent of their unearned passenger revenues (UPR), booking deposits on future sailings, in the form of assets located in the U.S.; file reports on their financial standing to the FMC on a semi-annual basis; and provide evidence of at least five year's opera- tions in the U.S. trades with a satis- factory explanation of any claims for non-performance. Previously, cruise lines were re- quired to maintain cover equal to at least 110 percent of their highest UPR over the preceding two years, to a maximum of $ 15 million. The new rules allow a choice of guaranty, es- crow arrangement, surety bond, or insurance. Reportedly, self-insurance was originally withheld pending further study, because the FMC did not have an independent endorsement of the operator's financial risk. Instead, the FMC must base its evaluation on the applicant's own financial assess- ment. 77
