Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 15, 1978)

ASNE Long Beach-Greater Los Angeles Section

Discusses Corrosion Protection And Control

El Paso Savannah Christened At

Avondale Shipyards In New Orleans

Joins A Fleet Of Nine LNG Tankers

Left to right, aboard the S/S Princess Louise, Capt. J.E. Kaune, USN; Capt. Robert

Sulit, USNR, and Julian Porter, president of Flame-Spray, Inc.

The October meeting of the

Long Beach-Greater Los Angeles

Section of The American Society of Naval Engineers was held in the Princess Room of the S/S

Princess Louise Restaurant in

San Pedro, Calif.

The members and guests en- joyed the fellowship of meeting and greeting old friends and new acquaintances during the social hour preceding the excellent din- ner. The fine food and the con- genial atmosphere have become the hallmark of this regular meet- ing place. The business meeting was opened by Capt. J.E. Kaune,

USN, Section chairman, who wel- comed the attendance, and after the introductions and announce- ments, proceeded to give a thumb- nail sketch of the highlights of the SURFLANT Symposium held in Norfolk, Va., on October 12 and 13.

Captain Kaune then turned the meeting over to John E. Marriner,

Program chairman, who intro- duced the technical portion of the meeting as being a two-part pres- entation on the subject of corro- sion protection and control, the first part being presented by

Julian Porter, president of Flame-

Spray, Inc. of San Diego, Calif., with the topic "Flame Spray Cor- rosion Protection."

Mr. Porter described and ex- plained the several methods em- ployed in the thermal spray proc- esses and numerous illustrations of the application in specific areas where corrosion had contributed to extremely high costs, and where other methods of corrosion protection had required extensive time and effort without complete effectiveness.

He continually stressed the tre- mendous costs attributable to the effects of corrosion in both the marine and industrial fields, and cited the flame spray method as being the most cost-effective method of dealing with a wide variety of materials and compo-

Principals at the christening of the El Paso Savannah included, from left to right:

Howard Boyd, chairman of the board, The El Paso Company; Albert L. Bossier Jr., president of Avondale Shipyards, Inc.; Miss Rhonda Rousakis, sponsor, and the

Honorable John P. Rousakis, Mayor of the City of Savannah, Ga. nents requiring protection from the hostile environment of the sea. He further cited several ap- plications on valves and rotating machinery that have been ef- fectively accomplished in local shipyards, and showed applica- tions using both manually and mechanically operated spray guns.

Immediately following Mr. Por- ter's very interesting presenta- tion, Capt. Robert Sulit, USNR,

Scientific Advisor to Vice Admiral

St. George, presented a slide- illustrated talk on "Flame Spray

Corrosion Control." His talk and the pictures described many prac- tical applications aboard Naval vessels, and stated that a major problem is the corrosion of steam valves. The high temperature in the salty atmosphere accentuates the corrosion on the exposed sur- faces of the valve body, trim and and the handwheels.

Captain Sulit pointed out that for the flame spray process to be successful, it must be performed under the strictest of quality as- surance procedures. Since it is considered a critical process, ex- treme care must be exercised in the preparation of the surface to be coated, and the work be done in accordance with approved pro- cedures by qualified personnel.

The metal spray is generally applied to about 3 to 4 mils thick- ness for corrosion protection, while the ceramic spray, which is known commercially by the trade name SermeTel, is gener- ally applied about 1 mil thick to nonporous surfaces. The use of this process to create corrosion- resistant surfaces on shipboard components is a relatively recent innovation and offers potentially large economies in this area.

Following the usual question- and-answer period at the conclu- sion of the two talks, each speaker was presented with a certificate of appreciation in recognition of the time and effort he had spent.

The El Paso Savannah, the last ship in the current series Avon- dale Shipyards is building for The

El Paso Company's new fleet of

LNG tankers, was christened on

November 11, in New Orleans.

Miss Rhonda Rousakis, daugh- ter of the Honorable John P.

Rousakis, Mayor of Savannah,

Ga., and Mrs. Rousakis, served as sponsor of the vessel. Miss

Rousakis, a native of Savannah, is a senior at the University of

Georgia, studying for a BSW de- gree (Bachelor of Social Work).

The principals of the ceremony included Albert L. Bossier Jr., president of Avondale Shipyards,

Inc., who welcomed the guests;

Howard Boyd, chairman of The

El Paso Company, who delivered the address; Mayor Rousakis, and

Father George Konstantopoulos, pastor of the Greek Orthodox Ca- thedral of the Holy Trinity, who delivered the invocation.

Miss Kim Johnson, daughter of

Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Johnson, pre- sented the sponsor a bouquet of red American Beauty roses. Tra- ditionally, the flower girl is the daughter of an Avondale em- ployee. Miss Johnson's dad is a pipefitter. Avondale executives joining the ceremony included:

Richard Brunner, senior vice pres- ident and operating officer; Joseph

Oberfell, executive vice president of Finances; Rene Meric, group vice president of Contract Admin- istration ; William Harmeyer, vice president of Production; Durel

Talbot and Hanson Koch, both members of the board of direc- tors of Ogden Corporation.

The El Paso Savannah will join a fleet of nine LNG tankers to be utilized in the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) be- tween Algeria and the United

States East Coast to meet the crit- ical energy needs of this nation.

The vessel was named in honor of the city near which the Elba

Island LNG Terminal is located, and in recognition of the support which El Paso and its valued cus- (continued on page 31)

The El Paso Savannah will be utilized in the transportation of liquefied natural gas (LNG) between Algeria and the United States East Coast. reason to put our equipment to work for you. iiGnng<.niinoii6os2sUA». Maritime Reporter/Engineering News