Page 6: of Marine News Magazine (February 2006)

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6• MarineNews • February, 2006

NEWS

The third new Chouest AHTS vessel to be delivered in the second quarter 2008 is a 348-ft. proprietary hull design, 16,000 hp class, DP2, 210 MT bollard pull, new generation anchor handler. The vessel will feature a deadweight tonnage of 5,111 LT and is equipped with a 600 MT four-drum winch, providing total wire capacity for 43,960 ft. of five-in. wire and secondary winches with a total capacity of 107,020 ft. of five-inch diameter synthet- ic rope.

Chain lockers will accommodate 38,704 ft. of 3 3/4-in .chain. Deck equip- ment includes dual tow pins, shark jaws and stern rollers.

To date ECO has delivered eight 280-ft. platform supply vessels, all currently working in the Gulf of Mexico. The com- pany is now releasing plans to construct an additional ten vessels, all slated for delivery within the next 24 months. The ninth 280-ft. PSV, the Dante, was recently completed at NAS and is slated for deliv- ery soon, to be closely followed by the

Allie Chouest, currently being completed at ECO affiliate North American Fabrica- tors in Houma, La., and scheduled for a

March 2006 delivery.

The 280-ft. series has revolutionized the supply vessel industry in the Gulf of

Mexico, featuring a deadweight of 4,800 tons, as well as dedicated below deck tankage for 15,415 barrels of liquid mud.

The vessels provide a clear deck area of 10,251 sq. ft., with a capacity of 2,700 LT.

In recent months ECO has taken deliv- ery of two new 160-ft. fast supply vessels, designed and built by Breaux Brothers in

Loreauville, La.. ECO is also announcing the continuation of that newbuild relation- ship, with plans for an additional nine fast supply vessels over the next two years.

The two 245-ft. liftboats are based on a

Bollinger design that has proven to be an industry leading design that is American

Bureau of Shipping (ABS) classed and

USCG certified subchapter L, meeting all

SOLAS/MARPOL requirements. The vessels will be built at Bollinger's Lock- port facility, with deliveries scheduled for the first and second quarters 2007.

Twaits Joins

Crowley

Crowley said that Alan Twaits has joined the company as vice president and gen- eral counsel.

Twaits will be based in Jack- sonville and report 4EMP&ILEPDF0-

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VT Halter Marine to Build Fourth Fisheries Survey Vessel

VT Halter Marine, Inc., a subsidiary of Vision Technologies Systems, Inc., will build another fisheries survey vessel (FSV) for the National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA.)

NOAA exercised an option for about $30 million to build the fourth planned vessel under an existing contract. Construction will begin in 2006 with delivery planned during the second half of 2008. VT Hal- ter Marine designed the 208-ft. FSVs in accordance with strict guidelines for acoustic quieting set by the International

Council for Exploration of the Seas. The first ship in the class-Oscar Dyson-was delivered to NOAA on January 5, 2005.

It operates out of Kodiak, Alaska. The second ship-Henry B. Bigelow-was launched on July 8, 2005, and is expect- ed to be delivered to NOAA in mid- 2006. It will be home ported in New England. Construction began on the third ship in the class, FSV 3, in July 2005; this ship, yet to be named, is expected to be delivered in late 2007. It will initially be homeported in Pascagoula, Miss. These NOAA sister ships, with cutting-edge low acoustic signatures, will have the ability to perform hydro-acoustic surveys of fish. They will also be able to conduct bottom and mid-water trawls while running physical and biological oceanographic sampling during a single deploy- ment--a combined capability unavailable in the private sector. When completed, the fourth ship will be home ported on the West

Coast; a specific location has not yet been determined.

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