BOATBUILDING BITTS March 2015

Signet Maritime, Pascagoula, Miss., is now operating its newest ASD tug, the 72'×28' Signet Vigilant. Designed by Castleman Maritime, Clear Lake Shores, Texas, and built by Signet Shipbuilding & Repair in Pascagoula, the new tug is powered by two MTU 8V-4000 M54 Tier 3 engines delivering a combined 2,400 hp at 1,800 rpm

The engines turn Rolls-Royce US 155 P12-FP Z-drives. Bollard pull is 30 MT. Ship’s service power is provided by a pair of 65-kW Marathon generators powered by John Deere 4045AFM85 EPA Tier 3 engines. Deck machinery includes a Markey DEPC-32, 20-hp bow winch, and two Patterson WWP40E 40-ton facing winches on the stern. The hawser winch has a capacity of 525' of 6.5"-cir. Saturn 12 synthetic line from Samson Rope. The Signet Vigilant is the ninth new ASD tug for Signet Maritime in less than four years and the first Castleman design for Signet.

In late January, Patti Marine Enterprises, Pensacola, Fla., launched the Mariya Moran, a new 5,100-hp ATB tug for Moran Towing Corp., New Canaan, Conn. The tug will be paired with the 150,000-bbl barge Texas being built at Bay Shipbuilding Co, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.

John Bludworth Shipyard, Corpus Christi, Texas, has delivered two inland pushboats, the Shannon Mary and the Robert Anthony, to Genesis Marine, Houston. The Shannon Mary was delivered last October and is the first of a series of inland pushboats Bludworth is building for Genesis Marine. The Robert Anthony was delivered in December. The 84'×32'×11' Shannon Mary is 2,680-hp and is powered by Caterpillar 3512C, Tier 3 main engines supplied by Mustang Power Systems. The 110'×32'×11' Robert Anthony is 3,150-hp and also powered by Caterpillar 3512Cs. John Bludworth has also delivered four Z-drive inland pushboats, the Freedom, Valor, Nolan Rhodes and Jeris Authement, to Enterprise Marine Services, Houma, La. The first was delivered in November 2013 and the other three in 2014. These 86'×34', 2,000-hp Z-drive pushboats are powered by Cummins QSK38 engines connected to ZF Z-drives. The yard is currently building three more 3,150-hp and three more 2,680-hp inland pushboats for Genesis Marine with deliveries extending into 2016.

Kvichak Marine Industries, Seattle, recently delivered a pair of 40'×13'6" aluminum crew/pilot boats to Tymac Launch Service in British Columbia. Kvichak was also awarded a contract for the construction of a pair of 62' aluminum pilot boats for the Port of Duqm in Oman. The B.C. boats were designed in-house and are powered by twin John Deere 6090SFM85 diesel engines rated at 425 hp with ZF 305-3 marine gears. The engines are coupled to Hamilton 322 waterjets providing a speed of 35 knots. The boats can transport up to 12 passengers. The Oman pilot boats will be powered by twin Cummins QSK-19 engines rated at 800 hp with ZF 2000A gears turning nibral 5-bladed props for a 20-knot operating speed. A 50-kW Onan genset will provide ship’s service power.

Harvey Gulf International Marine, New Orleans, reached another milestone in its development of the first dual-fuel commercial marine vessels in the U.S. On Feb. 6, the Harvey Energy, a 310'×64'×24'6" PSV, was successfully bunkered with LNG at a terminal in Pascagoula, Miss. A cool-down process for the LNG storage tank on board took about 12 hours utilizing 3,800 gals. of nitrogen. The LNG was supplied by a tank truck. The LNG bunkering operation was the first of its kind in the U.S. and was witnessed by officials from the Coast Guard, ABS, Wärtsilä and Martin Energy Services.

Vane Brothers, Baltimore, has ordered two more Sassafras-class tugs from Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md. When delivered, the vessels will be the 13th and 14th tugs that Chesapeake will have built for Vane Brothers in the last several years. The new 90'×32' tugboats will be nearly identical to the previous tugs built for Vane. They will be equipped with twin Caterpillar 3512 main engines producing a combined 3,000 hp and a single-drum hydraulic winch.

Steelways Inc., Newburgh, N.Y., has delivered Snag Barge 1401, a heavy-duty crane barge, to the Army Corp of Engineers for work on the Mississippi River. The 200'×50'×9' barge is equipped with a 42,000-gal. fuel tank, an 18,000-gal. potable water tank, six ballast tanks and an 1,110-sq. ft. deckhouse. The vessel is also outfitted with lube oil, waste oil, hydraulic oil, raw water, bilge and black water systems. The four 60'×3' square spuds and a 20'×30' boarding ramp are hydraulically powered. The barge left Steelways on Jan. 6 for Memphis, Tenn.