Page 30: of Marine News Magazine (November 2010)

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30 MN November 2010

Gladding-Hearn Pilot/Rescue Boat for Bermuda

Type Pilot/Rescue Boat

Builder Gladding-Hearn

Owner/Operator Bermuda Department of Marine and

Ports Services

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Duclos

Corporation, has taken a new boat order from the Bermuda Department of Marine and

Ports Services to replace the pilot/rescue boat, Saint David, built by the shipyard in 1986. Delivery is scheduled for 2011.

Designed by C. Raymond Hunt Associates and classed to Lloyds Register, the high- speed, all-aluminum pilot/rescue boat meas- ures 61 ft overall, with an 18-ft beam and a six-ft draft. Designed and built to serve as a pilot boat, the vessel will be equipped for off- shore search and rescue missions as well, with a rescue well recessed into the tran- som, a tow bit and 12-ft inflatable tender and accommodations for a stokes litter bas- ket stretcher.

The boat’s main propulsion comes from twin 12 cylinder MTU-12V2000M70 diesel engines, each producing 1,055 bhp at 2,100 rpm, giving it a top speed of 30 knots. The engines connect to NiBrAl pro- pellers through ZF2050A gear boxes. A pair of Northern Lights 20 kW gensets will pro- vide service power.

The boat features wide side decks, inverted front windows and large boarding areas on the main deck.

The wheelhouse, mounted aft of amidships on a flush deck, provides the pilots with additional comfort and safety at high speeds offshore and increased visibility of the board- ing areas. At the shear will be a heavy-duty 10-inch D rubber fender, in addition to five rubber side strakes at the boarding areas.

Interior accommodations will feature HVAC, six Llebroc recliners, cushioned settee, suit- able in size to accommodate an injured per- son, dinette and enclosed head. Sound level in the wheelhouse is expected to be about 70 decibels at 25 knots.

Crowley announced its plans to construct two double-hulled, combi- nation deck cargo and tank barges for service in Western Alaska. The ves- sels, named DBL 165-1 and DBL 165-2, are scheduled to be delivered in April and May of 2011, and will be home ported in Nome, Alaska.

The double-hull barges will be used for shallow draft operations and beach landings for the delivery of fuel and cargo to the remote communi- ties of Western Alaska.

The hull was designed for use in

Western Alaska, with priority given for the safety of the personnel and the environment. Adding to the dou- ble-hull feature, the barges will be fit with Tier II pumps and generators, electric winches and deck machinery to lessen the potential of hydraulic oil spills. The vessels are classed by the American Bureau of Shipping and certified by the U.S. Coast

Guard for the carriage of Grade A petroleum products.

The completed sister barges will have a length of 165 ft and a breadth of 52 ft. Total tank capacity is 272,270 gallons at 95%, with the ability to achieve a draft of less than four feet while carrying approximate- ly 90,000 gallons of product. The barge is designed to allow loading by a portable bow ramp and fixed crane and can accommodate deck loading of 3,000 lbs per square feet.

Crowley plans to retire some older fuel and freight vessels in Crowley's

Alaska transportation line with the delivery of the DBL 165-1 and DBL 165-2.

NEWS

AWO Hails New Deadlines for Towing Vessel Inspection Regs

The American Waterways Operators (AWO) hailed the enactment of provisions in the Coast

Guard Authorization Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-281) that bring the industry one step closer to a his- toric towing vessel inspection regulation to improve safety. Section 701 of the Act requires the

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking regard- ing inspection requirements for towing vessels” no more than 90 days from the date of enact- ment, a provision strongly advocated by AWO. The law requires that a final rule be issued no more than one year after the enactment date. A draft notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) has been stalled in the Administration clearance process at DHS since February 2009, even though its publication has been urgently requested by the industry and Congress. Both U.S.

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar (D-MN) and Coast

Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee Chairman Elijah Cummings (D-MD) have sent letters to DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano urging prompt publication of the NPRM. AWO has requested immediate publication of the proposed rule in meetings with DHS and the Coast

Guard, in testimony before the House Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Subcommittee.

Among other things, the proposed rule is expected to require all towing companies to imple- ment a safety management system (SMS), one of the National Transportation Safety Board’s top ten most wanted transportation safety improvements.

Photo cour tesy Cr owley Corporation

Crowley to Operate

Eco-Friendly Barges in Alaska