Tidewater Marine Upgrades Another Towing/Supply Vessel At McDermott

Tidewater Marine Services, Inc.

of New Orleans, the marine subsidiary of Tidewater Inc., has announced the major upgrading of its towing/supply vessel Hatch Tide by McDermott Shipyards in Morgan City, La., for service in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as industry conditions improve and drilling resumes in this area of activity.

"The modification, which cost approximately $1 million, underscores the needs of our customers and characters for larger, more versatile equipment in potentially promising domestic drilling areas," said Richard M. Currence, president of Tidewater Marine and senior vice president of the parent company.

The Hatch Tide joins two other Tidewater vessels, the Doc Tide and Darol Tide, that were upgraded recently.

The Hatch Tide was lengthened from 200 to 216 feet, and liquid mud capacity to 2,200 barrels was added.

Four additional chain lockers were fitted below deck to accommodate the anchoring needs of larger drilling rigs.

A bigger, 550-hp Schottel S-300-L bow thruster was added to enhance the vessel's maneuverability at sea and in port and harbor areas. Towing capacity was also increased, and a Fritz Culver 25,000-pound line pull tugger used in anchor-handling operations was added. To assist in anchor handling, a Triplex H-300-S "shark jaw," an automatically operated grasping device that controls chain or cable, was installed.

Other modifications include the addition of a more powerful Fritz Culver/Brattvaag towing winch equipped with chain handlers and having a line pull capacity of more than 400,000 pounds. Wire storage reels with a central power source were also added. The addition of 16 feet to the vessel's length increased its speed from 13 to 15.5 knots.

Propulsion is provided by the original twin GM Electro-Motive Division 16-645-E7B diesel engines with a total output of 6,140 bhp, driving two propellers via Reintjes reduction gears.

The Hatch Tide was built in 1982 by Halter Marine's Lockport, La., yard to provide a full range of services to international oil companies and offshore drilling contractors.

In addition to owning and operating one of the world's largest fleets of vessels supporting the offshore oil and gas industry, Tidewater is also active in oil and gas exploration and production, and in the air and natural gas compression business, as well as real estate and insurance.

For further information and free literature on Tidewater Marine Service, Circle 61 on Reader Service Card For complete details on the facilities and services provided by McDermott Shipyards, Circle 62 on Reader Service Card

Maritime Reporter Magazine, page 39, Aug 1986

Read Tidewater Marine Upgrades Another Towing/Supply Vessel At McDermott in Pdf, Flash or Html5 edition of August 1986 Maritime Reporter

Other stories from August 1986 issue

Content

Maritime Reporter

First published in 1881 Maritime Reporter is the world's largest audited circulation publication serving the global maritime industry.