Page 10: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2013)

10 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? OCTOBER 2013 Last month a special pair of towboats were celebrated, as LeBouef Bros. Towing of Houma, La., welcomed to its ß eet the MV Karl Senner and MV Dickie Gonsoulin in a festive ceremony at the home of Jon Gonsoulin, Presi-dent, Lebeouf Bros. Towing. While the boat represent many things ? a continued boom in the U.S. energy transport business; a nod to the modern mariner as both are seamlessly outÞ tted for crew comfort ? Þ rst and foremost they represent a long-standing and still strong bond between Gonsoulin and Karl Senner LLC.LeBeouf Bros. Towing and Karl Senner LLC forged a bond more than 45 years ago when Karl Senner sold the Þ rst Reintjes gearbox ever sold in the U.S. for installation in the United States to LeBeouf Brothers towing, aboard the M/V Mary R, which was a single screw tugboat purchased by LeBeouf Brothers. The Mary R served LeBeouf Bros. well until it was taken out of service in 1981, and is indicative of the com-pany?s strategy to invest in its boats and barges with an eye to the long term: invest a little more up front for more rugged gear and material where it makes sense, and invest in the boat?s interior comfort and amenity to help attract and retain high-value mariners.To that end, the two new boats are the product of Bourg Dry Dock, LeBeouf?s own newbuild and repair facility conceived by Gonsoulin in 2005, and today able to build four or Þ ve boats and about 10 barges per year. The M/V Karl Senner and the M/V Dickie Gon- soulin are Entech & Associates Inc.-designed boats, the second and third of a Þ ve boat series, all measur- ing 95 x 34 feet. MV Karl Senner has Mitsubishi S12- RY2MPTK-3 power and the MV Dickie Gonsoulin is powered by Caterpillar 3512s. All, naturally, will have Reintjes gears. Start to Þ nish, each boat took about 11 months to build, Bartel said, with the Karl delivered in July 2013 and the Dickie, in September 2013. Bartel said there weren?t any unique challenges to building the boats, other than ensuring that they were nice, live-on friendly vessels. - G. Trauthwein NEWS(Photo Greg Trauthwein) LeBeouf Celebrates LeBeouf Celebrates Double Christening Double ChristeningNews in BriefGE Chosen to PowerMaran LNG CarriersInduction-based electric propulsion motor tech-nology from GE?s Power Conversion business will be used to power four new LNG carriers that Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries will build for Maran Gas Maritime, the gas ship-ping unit of the Angelicoussis Shipping Group. Hyundai Heavy Industries will deliver the vessels over a 15-month period beginning in July 2015.GE?s induction-based propulsion motor technol- ogy with PWM variable-speed drives is powered by tri-fuel engines that run on natural gas, marine diesel gas or heavy fuel oil. GE will supply two propulsion systems for each of the four new LNG carriers, comprising generators, main and cargo switchboards, transformers, MV7000 converters, motors and remote control. GE is responsible for design, engineering, commissioning, training and assistance for sea and gas trials.Blue North Fleet Selects SiemensBased in Seattle, Blue North Fisheries (BNF) op-erates freezer long liners in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska and one smaller seiner in Alaska, Washington and Oregon. BNF?s largest vessel is 180-ft. long with a crew of 23, while its small-er seiner is 58-ft. long with a crew of six. With maintenance and fuel costs rising, BNF decided to modernize its ß eet. Even more, it decided to build what it determined would be one of the most environmentally friendly and technologi-cally advanced Þ shing vessels in the world. For its Þ rst new vessel, ?Blue North,? BNF chose the 58.35 meter (191 feet) ST-155, a new long liner designed by Skipsteknisk AS of Norway. BNF elected to power its vessel with a twin-bladed, dual-azimuth, diesel-electric propulsion (DEP)system, making it the Þ rst Þ shing vessel in North America to incorporate Siemens BLUEDRIVE DEP technology. Thanks in part to the Siemens and Caterpillar en-gines, Blue North will be one of the Þ rst Þ shing vessels to meet new Tier III emissions standards. While it is environmentally sound, the combined design and propulsion solution also makes busi-ness sense, as it will help to save an estimated 30% in fuel consumption.Left: Jon Gonsoulin hosted a festive double christening in Houma, La. Right: The traditional breaking of the champagne on the MV Karl Senner. MV Karl Senner MV Dickie Gonsoulin Builder Bourg Dry Dock Bourg Dry Dock Designer Entech & Associates Inc. Entech & Associates Inc. Owner LeBeouf Bros. Towing LeBeouf Bros. Towing Delivery July 2013 September 2013Length 95 x 34 x 10.6 ft. 95 x 34 x 10.6 ft. Draft, Max. 9 ft. 9 ft. Speed 6 knots 6 knotsMain Engine Mitsubishi Caterpillar Gears Reintjes WF 665 Reintjes WF 665 Propellers Kahlenberg 80 x 65? Hung Shen 84 x 65? ClassiÞ cation ABS ABSFuel 37,006 gal. 37,006 gal.Water 22,472 gal. 22,472 gal.VHF Radio Icom IcomRadars Koden Koden GPS Nav Furuno FurunoAlarm, Þ re panels Siemens Siemens Courtesy Maran Gas MR #10 (10-17).indd 10MR #10 (10-17).indd 1010/4/2013 9:51:23 AM10/4/2013 9:51:23 AM