Page 47: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1973)

Dravo Elects Three Vice Presidents

D. Robert' Berg

Pittsburgh Firm

To Build Hover Ferries

In United States

Hovermarine Corporation, a Pitts- burgh, Pa.-based company, will be- gin U.S. production of the HM.2 high-speed hoverferry this month.

This will mark the first time that this type of craft will be manufac- tured in this country for commer- cial application, according to Wil- liam A. Zebedee, chairman of Hov- ermarine.

Mr. Zebedee said an agreement in principle has been reached with

Thompson Trawlers, Inc. of Titus- ville, Fla., to manufacture the

HM.2 at the Thompson facility on a joint venture basis.

The HM.2—a 51-foot 60-passen- ger surface effect ship—rides on a cushion of air and operates at speeds up to 40 miles per hour. It is a si dew all type hoverferry simi- lar in concept to the larger surface effect ships being developed by the

United .States Navy for antisub- marine warfare.

H'M.2 hoverferries have been in production at Hovermarine's whol- ly owned subsidiary, Hovermarine

Transport Ltd., in Southampton,

England, since 1971. They are in use in nine different countries around the world, and have already accumulated more than 30-million passenger miles in commercial service.

An English-built HM.2 arrived in Florida May 1, to serve as a model for craft to be constructed in Titusville.

The passenger - carrying HM.2 features a fiberglass hull, marine diesel engines, and conventional water propellers. Over 20 of the craft have been sold for various commercial and special - purpose applications in England, Portugal,

Greece, India, Brazil, Norway, Bel- gium, Singapore, and Indonesia.

In conjunction with establish- ment of construction facilities,

Hovermarine is intensifying mar- keting activities for sale of the

HM.2 for mass transit and other commercial ferry applications in the United States.

Hovermarine is working with the Florida Department of Trans- portation to establish a waterway transit demonstration program. A

Federal grant is being sought.

Candidate locations for the pro- posed HM.2 demonstration pro- gram include Miami, Tampa, and

Jacksonville. Other cities for which over-the-water HM.2 demonstra- tions are being considered are New

Orleans, San Francisco, New York,

Washington, D.C., and Pittsburgh.

B.L. Black, Hovermarine mar- keting vice president who is direct- ing U.S. marketing activities, has returned from England where he has spent the past three years ex- panding the HM.2 market in Eu- rope, Asia, India, and South Amer- ica.

According to Mr. Black: "The

HM.2 is a proven over-water tran- sit vehicle being used hourly by commuters and tourists through- out the world. The craft is dis- tinguished by its lack of noise, comfortable air cushion ride, and high reliability. "We have recognized the vast potential of the U.S. market for

HM.2 and are now entering this market on a broad and determined basis. We plan to have HM.2 craft serving the U.S. public by this time next year."

Thompson Trawlers, Inc., lo- cated on the Florida Intracoastal

Waterway near Cape Kennedy, manufactures workboats and fish- ing trawlers made in fiberglass in sizes up to 72 feet. Thompson also produces craft for the pleasure boat market.

Rodney Thompson, president of the Florida boat producer, noted: "We are very pleased with our arrangement with Hovermarine.

HM. 2 production adds a new di- mension to Florida industry. It will provide increased employment po- tential for the Titusville area."

John H. Kennedy, Hovermarine vice president, also cited the impor- tance of the agreement: "Thomp- son Trawlers' assistance through this joint venture arrangement will allow us to deliver U.S.-built HM. 2s in a shorter time period, and their experience in marine con- struction will contribute important- ly to our ability to produce the craft at quality levels comparable to our present English production."

Current laws prohibit commer- cial operation of foreign-built ves- sels between U.S. ports. Accord- ingly, Hovermarine's English-built

HM. 2s are not available for sale in the United States, and the com- pany has not previously attempted any domestic marketing of this unique transit vehicle.

In addition to the HM. 2, a gen- eral purpose version of the craft will be offered for applications such as crew boats, hydrographic survey, airport rescue, and patrol duties. Larger versions of the HM. 2 are under development for use in mass transit.

Mooremack Returns

Show Net Increase

First quarter 1973 income of

Moore and McCormack Co., Inc., before extraordinary items, was $1,708,000 or 71 cents per share on operating revenues of $14,739,000, compared with $467,000 or 20 cents per share on revenues of $10,761,- 000 in the same 1972 interval, ac- cording to James R. Barker, presi- dent and chief executive officer.

Net income for the quarter in- creased to $2,016,000 or 84 cents per share from $597,000 or 25 cents per share the year before.

Chas. H. Tregenza Co.

Moves To Connecticut

Chas. H. Tregenza Co. Ltd., managing operators of Falmouth

Steamships, Inc., has moved to new headquarters at 50 Washington

Street, Norwalk, Conn, according to an announcement by C.H. Tre- genza, president. The company has been operating in New York City for the past 40 years. Existing tele- phone numbers will be continued, he said.

The election of three vice presi- dents has been announced by

Dravo Corporation, diversified

Pittsburgh-based company. They are Walter P. Barrett, vice presi- dent, purchasing and traffic; D. Ro- bert Berg, vice president, interna- tional, and James D. Copeland, vice president, industrial relations.

Mr. Barrett first joined Dravo in 1935 as a sales engineer in the com- pany's Philadelphia office. He held several sales and managerial posi- tions for Dravo in Philadelphia,

New York, and Pittsburgh, and in 1964 assumed the responsibility for purchasing and traffic activities.

James D. Copeland

Mr. Berg started with the cor- poration in 1938 in a production position. He was appointed admini- strative manager of the Wilming- ton, Del., plant in 1945, manager of the heating department in 1950, manager of the piping department in 1954, manager of new product development in 1958, and manager, international, in 1965.

Mr. Copeland began his career with "Dravo as a grievance investi- gator in 1946 and was named man- ager of personnel research in 1951.

He was given responsibility for in- dustrial relations activities in 1962.

Floating Dry Docks

We have been building floating docks since 1877 and are presently constructing a dock with a lifting capacity of 33,000 tons for a shipyard in the United States.

We also build docks for Supertankers and LNG ships.

Please contact us:

GHH

STERKRHDE

Gutehoffnungshiitte Sterkrade AG • 42 Oberhausen 11 • Postfach 103 „ West Germany £ or our representatives: q Ferrostaal Overseas Corp. • 17, Battery Place • New York, N. Y. 10004

Walter P. Barrett

June 1, 1973 49