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Wade to Retire From Lloyd's Registry Chris Wade is to retire from Lloyd's Registry in July after more than 30 years with the classifica- tion society. He will be succeeded as managing director of Lloyd's Marine Division by Willem de Jong. Mr. Wade was stationed around the globe for most of his career with Lloyd's, but returned to London in 1987 when he was named as head of the Classification Department. Caterpillar Gets Nod For New Catalina Ferry Caterpillar's Engine Products Division announced that Catalina Cruises has chosen it to be the main power source for its latest catamaran fast ferry, to be deliv- ered in June 1998. Four Cat 3512B marine engines, each rated at 1,950 bhp will be installed in order to achieve a top speed of 36 knots. Each of these high-powered engines is 1,950 bhp at 1,835 rpm. These Cat engines will drive MJP waterjets through ZF marine gears. The 144-ft. (44-m) ferry was designed by International Catamarans, Ltd., Australia and is the largest catamaran ferry built to date by Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Inc. The schedule of the Long Beach to Catalina Island is to make the 23-mile round-trip four times daily. One of the deciding factors in going with Caterpillar engines was fuel consumption, reliability and weight. Atlantic Starts Major Conversion Project Atlantic Drydock Corporation has recently started a $76 million conversion, its biggest job ever, of the Bahamian-flag vessel Tarago, which arrived in drydock on February 22, for conversion into a Marine Corps pre-positioning ves- sel. Atlantic will perform the work on the 754-ft. (230-m) RoRo cargo ship under contract from Tarago Shipbuilding Corp. Plans include the addition of a new deck and cranes to meet U.S. flag require- ments for military specifications. Once the work, which will take an estimated 12 to 18 months, is com- pleted the vessel will join Tarago's fleet of 13 vessels that are used by the Marines. Tarago was seen as March, 1998 ideal for U.S. Marine purposes due to its 190,000-sq. ft. deck area, 18 knot speed and 33,660 dwt, which makes it among the largest, fastest and strongest RoRo ships ever built. Ninety-one percent of the deck area is rated at 600 pounds per sq. ft. and its cargo pattern is laid out based on maximum flexi- bility and self-reliance. Each of the decks are to be connected by fixed, wide ramps for easy access and traffic flow, which was former- ly a problem aboard the ship when more than one deck was operating at a single time. Access to and from the vessel is via a 400 ton starboard quarter stern ramp which was designed to accommo- date large cargo pieces and multi- lane traffic. Wolak Joins Lips, USA Brenda Wolak has joined Lips USA, Inc. as sales manager of its Marine Propulsion Equipment. Lips USA is a subsidiary of Lips BV of Drunen, the Netherlands. Lips manufactures FP and CP pro- pellers, side thrusters, steerable thrusters, waterjets and electronic control systems. $TR0X
