Page 38: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1970)

Mexican Shipyard Building

Copper-Nickel Shrimp Boat

A unique prototype copper-nickel-hulled shrimp boat is being advanced by the copper and brass industry as a permanent solution to the age-old problem of hull-adhering barnacles, other harmful marine growth, and corrosion damage. Unlike any other work vessel afloat, the new copper and brass industry shrimp boat is designed to remain free of costly "bot- tom fouling" including the usual pitting and other corrosion damage that occurs in steel- hulled vessels.

Construction of the copper-nickel vessel is a cooperative effort of Copper Development

Association Inc., the advanced market develop- ment arm of the copper and brass industry;

Ingenieria y Maquinaria Especializada, S.A., a large Mexican builder of commercial fishing vessels and the builder of the copper-nickel boat; Jaime L. Manzolillo, the marine archi- tect ; and Booth Fisheries, a division of Con- solidated Foods, Inc. Chicago, 111., the vessel's operator.

The 67-foot shrimp trawler features a hull of copper-nickel—specifically, Copper Alloy

No. 706, which is 90 percent copper, 10 percent i,ickel. Copper-nickel was chosen because of that metal's inherent resistance to corrosion and to the various forms of marine life that attach themselves to a vessel's bottom. Solving the manyfold problems of boat hull mainten- ance means more profitable vessel through: (1) reduced fuel bills, (2) greater speeds, (3) no deterioration of material through corrosion, (4) and no expenditures for periodic scraping and painting of the huil.

The copper-nickel boat is the nucleus of a four-year test program to demonstrate to ma- x k mi kill U

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Founded 1887 rine operators the overall savings resulting from using copper-nickel alloy as a hull ma- terial. Operating costs of the copper-nickel boat will be compared with sister ships laun- ched at the same time, functioning out of the same port and in the same type of service, and built to identical specifications—except for the hull material. The unusually comprehensive test program will document maintenance cost savings through prevention of both marine growth and salt water corrosion. The tests will also show the difference in fuel consumption resulting from bottom fouling in intervals be- tween haulouts.

Artist's conception (top) of the Copper Mariner, copper- nickel-hulled shrimp trawler presently under construc- tion. A four-year in-service test program will determine savings in operating and maintenance costs resulting from use of the inherently corrosion-resistant and non- fouling copper-nickel hull material. The Copper Mariner under construction (bottom) at Salina Cruz in Oaxaca,

Mexico. Projected launching date is September 1970.

Built at the Mexican free port of Salina Cruz in Oaxaca, Mexico, the copper-nickel vessel will be operated under a test program as part of a commercial fishing fleet of shrimp trawlers operated by Booth Fisheries and based at San

Juan del Sur, Nicaragua.

The 67-foot copper-nickel boat has an 18- foot, four inch beam ; a depth of nine feet, six inches; and a hold capacity of 1,765 cubic feet.

Construction is according to the American Bu- reau of Shipping Rules, and the vessel will be fully classified by American Bureau of Ship- ping with "Maltese Cross A-l Fishing Service."

The vessel's power plant is a Caterpillar D-343 diesel engine with a rating of 335 continuous hp at 1,800 rpm. Fuel capacity is 8,900 gallons.

Anaconda American Brass Company, Water- bury, Conn., and Revere Copper & Brass In- corporated, New York City, are fabricating the eight-foot by 15-foot by one-quarter-inch thick plates of copper alloy. The Monel weld- ing electrodes are from the Huntington Alloy ••' Products Division of International Nickel

Company in Huntington, W. Va.

Wilson Industries To Build

Two Underwater Workboats

International Underwater Contractors, Inc.,

Flushing, N.Y., has awarded contracts for the construction of two underwater workboats to

Wilson Industries, Houston, Texas.

One wi'l be a submersible, propelled by elec- tric motors and storage batteries. It will be named Mark IV-C4 and will include a 66-inch

ID sphere.

The other will be a decompression chamber. 40 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News