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Bollinger Marine Fabricators, LLC, (BMF) Amelia, La., a Bollinger Ship- yards, Inc. company, has delivered the DBL 28, a double hull, oil tank barge built to meet the requirements of the Oil Pollu- tion Act of 1990 (OPA'90), to K-Sea Transportation Partners L.P, Staten Island, N.Y. Following the delivery of the DBL 28, Bollinger announced the signing of four sister ships. Terms of the contract were not disclosed. "Our BMF facility has had great suc- cess with K-Sea's barge building pro- grams over the last several years. We recently expanded our capacity at the facility with hopes of including other types of vessels, but demand for our vari- ous classes of barges has taken up most all of the capacity." said Chris Bollinger, executive vice president new construction of Bollinger Shipyards. "K-Sea and Bollinger have worked very closely on the development of this 28,000 BBL class of barge. The signing of the additional four units confirms K-Sea's dedication and confidence in our workforce to deliver a superior barge that will play a key roll in their future." The 28,000 BBL capacity DBL 28 mea- sures 297.6-ft. in length, with a 54-ft. beam and 13-ft. depth. The DBL 28 is the first of a series of eight units currently in production at BMF for K-Sea. DBL 28 is coupled with an existing K-Sea tug using the state-of-the-art Beacon JAK 200 tug/barge Push-Pin coupler system, which is designed to increase operating efficien- cy and enhance safety and reliability by operating as a dual mode ITB. The series of barges are manned, non self-propelled, double hulled with a raked shaped bow, with six cargo tanks. The barges are classed Lakes, Bays & Sound (Inland) Tank Barges, ABS +A1 Oil Tank Barge, and USCG certified. The barges are being constructed primarily for bunkering and harbor service in ports on the U.S. East Coast. President and CEO of K-Sea, Timothy J. Casey, said, "With the delivery of the DBL 28 Bollinger has again demonstrated their ability to produce a high-quality barge that meets our precise scheduling and contract terms. This new series of barges represents the next exciting step in our barge building program and we look forward to provid- ing our customers with state-of-the-art double hull service in both the coastwise and local markets." 24 • MarineNews • July, 2006 Bollinger Delivers Barge to K-Sea Barges DBL 28 the 1st in a series of eight OPA'90 compliant, Lakes, Bays & Sounds, ABS and USCG certified tank barges delivered from Bollinger to K-Sea Transportation for use in harbor service in ports on the Northeast U. S. Coast. Modular Barge Mounted Coal to Liquids Facility Waller Marine, Inc. of Houston, Texas was selected as part of the Project Team for the initial Feasibility Study of the $5b Geismer, La., Clean Coal to Liquid Fuels Project, recently announced by the Governor of Louisiana, Kathleen Blanco and the Leaders of Shanyang Borough of Shanghai City, China. Acclaimed as the world's first Coal to Gasoline Pro- ject Waller Marine, Inc, will provide the marine engi- neering and management support to the modular design concept developed by the company for the facility's construction, transportation and installation at the designated operating site in Geismer, La. The initial work will be carried out under a Feasi- bility Study Service Agreement between Sino Global International, LLC, with Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Company and Sinopec International Co., Ltd (jointly) of China. Sinopec Ningbo Engineering Company will conduct the Feasibility Study, with technological sup- port from GE Energy USA, LLC, Haldor Topsoe, Inc, ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, AMEC Paragon, Inc, AON Environmental and SNC Lavalin, GDS, Inc. The project will use lignite mined in North Louisiana as the feedstock that will be fed to multiple General Electric gasifiers to produce synthesis gas and thence through methanol synthesis and a methanol to gasoline process using technology and know-how pro- vided by Haldor Topsoe and ExxonMobil. The integration of the various processes into struc- tural barge modules will be provided by WMI. Each module will form a fully documented barge complete with its particular process components, designed in accordance with and approved by the American Bureau of Shipping. An estimated 30 such barge modules will be required to complete the facility. Barge mounted modules will be constructed, outfit- ted and tested at a specially built facility at Jinshan, China. Upon completion and testing at Jinshan, the modules will be dry towed to the Mississippi River at Geismer, where they will be returned to the water and transferred across the levee by a specially designed and constructed drydock/bridge system provided by WMI. The Geismer site will have been prepared to receive the barge modules, where they will be installed on land based foundations and their systems recon- nected. The barges shall remain as documented marine vessels throughout their operational life. The completed facility will gasify some 20 million tons of coal per year and produce 100,000 barrels per day of gasoline and by-products such as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), Ethanol, 1,000,000 gallons per day of AA Chemical Grade methanol, 3 million tons per year of sulfuric acid and steam and electricity to adjacent facilities. The Project incorporates a unique "Counter Trade" arrangement for its value added prod- ucts, which will be in part exported to the People's Republic of China in specially designed Integrated Tug Barge units designed by WMI. The concept of integrating traditionally land based process facilities into modular marine vessels for floating and land based installations is not new to WMI, having designed a floating power plant, barge mounted Gas to Liquids (GTL) facilities, floating LNG storage and regasification facilities and a float- ing gas to methanol plant. Jeffboat Completes Company Turnaround Since emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early last year, Jeffboat, a division of American Commercial Lines, Inc. has welcomed a significant amount of productiv- ity and financial gain. With the May announcement that American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL) had secured a $30m multi-year contract with Statia Terminals New Jersey, Inc., a division of Valero, LP to build ABS certified ocean tank barges, it was apparent that Jeffboat was ready for more expansion and growth. To further secure the company's sta- bility and growth, American Commercial Lines Inc. (ACL) recently announced that it has been awarded $11.3m in state incentives for future expansion that will create up to 1,100 jobs. The economic incentive package includes $11.0m in tax credits based on job creation and capital investments, as well as $295,000 for the training of new and existing employees over the next three years. Construction at Jeffboat LLC, a division of ACL, is said to start in the fourth quarter of 2006 for deliveries in 2007 and 2008. In June, American Commercial Lines Inc. raised its fiscal 2006 earnings outlook, citing strong demand and rate envi- ronment. The company said it now expects to earn $2 to $2.20 a share, compared with its previous outlook of $1.70 to $1.90 a share. Jeffboat officials and Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels announced that the company plans to add 1,100 jobs in the next three years as it tries to more than double its barge-building business. Last year, Jeffboat constructed 127 barges and had revenue of $139 million. The company said that they hope to build more than 500 barges next year. For American Commercial Lines, barge production made up 16 percent of revenue last year. JULY MN2006 3(17-24).qxd 7/6/2006 11:41 AM Page 24
