Page 32: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (January 15, 1969)

Two Papers Presented At Fall Meeting Of SNAME Gulf Section Held In Biloxi Pictured above at the speakers' table, Gulf Section meeting, left to right: Henry J. Fray Jr., vice-president and general manager, Bailey Corporation, New Orleans, and Section secretary-treasurer; Vernon A. Olson, technical administrator, SNAME; William H. Holland, speaker; Walter H. Michel, Friede & Goldman, Inc., and Section chairman, and George B. Clarke Jr., director of engineering, Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding Company, and Section vice-chairman. The recent fall meeting of the Gulf Section of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine En-gineers was held at the Broadwa-ter Beach Hotel in Biloxi, Miss. During the technical session, two papers were presented, which were of interest to the large group of members and guests who were in attendance. Miss B. L. Mitchell, from the In-galls Shipbuilding Division of Lit-ton Systems, Inc., presented "Eco-nomics of Quality/Reliability As-surance in Shipyard Application." This was of particular interest due to the sharp increase, in recent years, in this area of management control in all phases of shipbuild-ing. Miss Mitchell is the first wo-man to present a paper to the Gulf Section, and did an excellent job with her discussion and supporting chart presentation. "A Pathway to Marine Corrosion Protection-Cadmium Electro-Plat-ing from Molten Salts," was pre-sented by Wilbur C. Eakin Jr., who is also with the Ingalls Shipbuild-ing Division. Vernon A. Olson, technical ad-ministrator of the Society in New York, presented an interesting ac-count of the technical and research activities that the Society is pres-ently engaged in. The Gulf Section was privileged to have William H. Holland, vice-president of Mobile Gas Service Corporation, as principal speaker for the evening, following a well attended social hour and dinner. Mr. Holland, vice-chairman of Mo-bile's Task Force "200", made a very impressive presentation on the industrial development program presently underway in the City and Port of Mobile. AML, PFEL And APL Name Bieri Chairman Of Coordinating Board American Mail Line, Pacific Far East Line and American President Lines, three West Coast shipping concerns owned partially or indi-rectly by Natomas Co., said they are creating the post of chairman of the coordinating board of the three lines and expanding the board's activities. Named to the post was Floyd Bieri, president of Consolidated Marine Inc., a concern owned by the three lines, which provides them with operating services. Mr. Bieri will be succeeded as Consoli-dated president by Hugh W. How-ard, presently vice-president of Ma-her Terminals in New York City. Natomas owns about 42 percent of Pacific Far East Line and about 54 percent of American President Lines, which in turn owns about 93 percent of American Mail. Nato-mas has received Maritime Ad-ministration approval of plans to consolidate the three lines but has not announced intentions to carry through the proposal. A spokes-man said Mr. Bieri's appointment should not necessarily be viewed as a step in that direction. However, the announcement by the three lines said Consolidated Marine will begin operating a car-go container pool for the lines as soon as the project is approved by government agencies. Consolidated Marine is moving its offices to San Francisco from Los Angeles, the announcement added. NSSC Awards Carrier Nuclear Submarines Air Conditioning Units A contract to supply absorption water chilling machines for nine new U.S. nuclear-powered attack submarines has been awarded to Carrier Air Conditioning Com-pany, according to William C. Egan, vice-president for special products. The contract supplements a re-cently received order for hermetic centrifugal water chillers for the same vessels, Mr. Egan said. The orders placed by the Naval Ship Systems Command total $2.8-million. They call for one 165-ton heat-actuated absorption unit and two 150-ton electrically driven cen-trifugal units for each submarine's air conditioning plant. Almost all nuclear-powered sub-marines in the U.S. fleet are using Carrier cooling equipment, includ-ing the first to be launched, the USS Nautilus, Mr. Egan said. Marine Insurers Merge To Expand Capacity For U.S. Underwriting The Marine Office of America and Appleton & Cox, two large ma-rine insurance organizations, merg-ed as of January 1 to form what is described as the nation's largest underwriting organization with an-nual premiums in excess of $100-million. John B. Ricker Jr., president of the Marine Office of America said that formation of the new company was designed to expand United States underwriting capacity for in-ternational marine insurance risks. Mr. Ricker will serve as chair-man and chief executive officer of the new company, Marine Office?-Appleton & Co., Inc., and Fred Thieringer Jr., president of Apple-ton & Cox will become president. In announcing the merger Mr. Ricker noted that a capacity prob-lem existed in the marine insurance business, with underwriters lacking the reserves necessary to accom-modate risks that are constantly growing. One of the objectives of the new company, to be known as M.O.A.C., will be to invite other companies into the field. "There are many companies in the interior which have reserves but have not participated in such business because of a lack of ex-pertise," he explained. "Small com-panies with limited capacity and personnel will now be able to share in this growing market. M.O.A.C. is prepared to represent these com-panies, making available its under-writing experience and offering participation in a balanced book of business. The underwriting coverage will include cargo, commercial hull, pleasure craft, protection and in-demnity?ocean and inland, marine casualty and commercial inland marine. The new corporation will initial-ly represent the Continental Insur-ance Companies, the Glen Falls Group, the Hanover Insurance Group, Phoenix of London Group and the Tokyo Marine & Fire In-surance Co., Ltd. , The new company will maintain 30 offices in the United States and Canada staffed by marine special-ists, and a network of underwriting and settling agents abroad to serve United States producers and insur-ers, he said. Mr. Ricker indicated the company planned to make a major thrust in increasing the amount of business written abroad. Houma Fabricators To Build Twin-Screw Tug Houma Fabricators of Houma, La., is to construct a twin-screw tugboat for Nolty J. Theirot, Inc., Golden Meadow, La. The vessel, which has been designated Hull No. 25, will have the following dimensions: a length of 100 feet, a beam of 37 feet and a depth of 12 feet. It is to be powered with 3.000-total-bhp diesels. Newport News Appoints Robert C. Strasser Director Of Research Robert C. Strasser Robert C. Strasser has been appointed director of research of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., a subsidiary of Tenneco Inc. The announcement was made by J. R. Kane, director of engineering at the Virginia shipyard. A native of New York, Mr. Strasser joined Newport News in 1959. He was appointed assistant director of research in May 1967, to manage research and develop-ment in the company's materials, hydraulic, and engineering labora-tories. Prior to that appointment, he was chief of the engineering laboratory. His previous experience includes four years as an engineer with the marine division of Sperry Gyro-scope Co. From 1953 to 1955 he served as hull design officer with the Supervisor of Shipbuilding, USN, New York. He is a graduate of New York State Maritime College, from which he received a bachelor's degree in marine engineering in 1951. Upon graduation from col-lege, Mr. Strasser was employed as a naval architect at the David Taylor Model Basin. In 1955 he was granted a master of science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University. Mr. Strasser holds a U.S. Coast Guard third assistant engineer's license for steam and diesel ves-sels. A member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine En-gineers, Mr. Strasser has authored several technical papers, including "The Acoustic Habitability of Ships," which was published in the Transactions of the Society in 1964. He is also a member of the Society of Naval Engineers and the Propeller Club. Mangone Ship To Build Offshore Supply Boat Mangone Shipbuilding Co. of Houston, Texas, has received a contract from Astro-Marine, Inc., for the construction of an offshore, oil-well supply boat. Designated Hull No. 90, the vessel is to have the following dimensions: an over-all length of 156 feet 6 inches, a beam of 36 feet and a depth of 15 feet. It will be powered with 2,400-total-bhp diesel machinery. 34 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News