Page 109: of Marine News Magazine (September 2013)

the design come to life.Over time, Ocean service AT/Bs have been built in Maine, Rhode Is- land, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Louisiana, Oregon, Washing- ton, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. The industry has provided shipbuilding jobs in fourteen states. AT/B ocean barges are built in inland river shipyards and their attending tugs can be built in an even wider range of coastal small ves- sel construction yards. Collectively, these shipyards are among the most productive in the world and according to Bob Hill, even foreign AT/B cus- tomers are looking to American yards to build their AT/Bs. It is a trickle, right now, but it is there and if what my clients are saying turns into con- tracts, American yards may be build- ing soon for overseas clients.? Indeed, they are already doing so in other sec- tors. AT/Bs could be next. INNOVATION AND IMPROVEMENTS AT/Bs have kept apace of their single hull counterparts include Emis- sions and Environmental Protection, Crew Comfort, Fuel Consumption, Constructability, Reliability In Ser- vice and expansion of services & trade routes. Beyond that, electric drive sys- tems employing multiple generator/ VSG/DC Bus/PM motor and genera- tor con? gurations have the potential to reduce duel consumption on cer- tain AT/Bs by over 20%. A Jones Act AT/B gas carrier slated to go to ship- yard bid in December of this year and another, a container AT/B are both similarly designed with these features. Innovative solutions to both hull pro- duction and assembly are being car- ried out by Senesco Marine, while VT Halter has produced the largest class, and second largest class of AT/Bs to date. The extensive use of 3D CAD design in both design of? ces and shipyards, makes it possible now to expand the kinds of hulls that can be created in the name of higher speed. LOOKING AHEAD & BACK ? New trade opportunities assure that new kinds of AT/Bs will be built in the future. From small landing craft type, multi-purpose units designed to supply outlying Aleutian Islands with the necessities of life, to LNG carri-ers, to specialized chemical carriers, to the ? rst vessels designed to ful? ll the Marine Highway (shortsea ship- ping) promise, these versatile vessels are ? nding their way into the Ameri- can merchant ? eet in ever-increasing numbers. The same holds true in overseas markets as well. What was once labeled by oppo- nents as a sorry excuse for a ship,? the AT/B has gone about its busi- ness, proving time and again that it has earned a well-justi? ed place in the worlds merchant ? eets. MN 109www.marinelink.com MN Sept2013 Layout 96-111.indd 1098/29/2013 4:43:04 PM