Page 28: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 1969)

McAllister Tug Crews Commended By USCG In N.Y. Harbor Fire Crews of three tugs operated by McAllister Brothers Inc. have been commended by the Coast Guard for "courage, initiative, and profession-al skill" in averting a "major harbor conflagration" on March 15, when they rushed to the aid of the tank-er Michael B, which had exploded while taking on gasoline at an oil company pier in the Arthur Kill. Woodbridge, X.J. Although Coast Guard units were dispatched at once, fire spread so rapidly 011 ship and pier that the need for more immediate help was soon apparent and a McAllister tug that had been noticed closer to the scene was contacted through the McAllister offices. Three McAl-lister tugs were soon at pierside. What followed is described by Rear Adm. Mark A. Whelan, com-mander. Third Coast Guard Dis-trict, in a letter to James P. Mc-Allister, president of the towing/ transportation company: "Completely disregarding danger, with the verv imminent threat of MARYLAND SHIPBUILDING & DRYDOCK COMPANY One Broadway, New York, N. Y. 10004 Tel: 212 344-0934 Telex #212 571-0361 Cable MARD0CK0, N. Y. additional explosions, the Bruce McAllister took the burning Mi-chael B in tow and skillfully beach-ed her in the marshes of Arthur Kill. While this was going on. the Dalzell Eagle and Catherine McAl-lister were busy pulling other barges away from the burning pier, transporting fire fighters, and pumping water 011 the fire which was soon brought under control." I11 expressing appreciation to McAllister personnel, the admiral further stated. "There is 110 ques-tion that without (their) assistance, fire-fighting efforts would have been seriously hampered, and a rel-atively minor harbor casualty could have developed into a major dis-aster." Directing operations of the Bruce McAllister, which beached the burning tanker, were Capt. Edward Prendergast of Kingston. N.Y.. and Capt. George Fuhr of Queens. Com-mended with them are Paul Mor-tensen and John Dahlstrom, deckhands; Frank Fuglestad and George Brown, engineers, and John Lomba, steward. Others cited for their participa-tion are: Caot. Robert Munoz and kOP 5OO fV MARYLAND SHIPBUILDING & DRYDOCK COMPANY Subsidiary of Fruehauf Corp. 2900 Childs Street, P.O. Box 537, Baltimore, Maryland 21203 Tel: 301 355-0500, Telex =301 355 4150 Cable MARDOCKO, Baltimore Capt. Walter Jacobsen of the Dal-zell Eagle whose homes, respective-ly, are West Brattleboro, Yt. and Jersey City, and Captains Oddvar Novik and Andrew Thompson of the Catherine McAllister, both from Staten Island. R. Murphy Named V-P Gen. Mgr. Western Div. Murphy-Pacific Marine Newport News Names Deal To Key Position Roger Murphy Roger Murphy, has been named vice-president and general manager of the western division of Murphv-Pacific Marine Salvage. The Emeryville, Calif.-based firm is one of the largest marine salvage companies in the United States. The firm's phenomenal growth dates from 1964, when it first used its patented "foam in salvage pro-cess" to raise the sunken 500-ton barge, Lumberjack, from the depths of Humble Bay. Later, using the same technique ?which involves the filling of the sunken hull with urethane plastic foam under pressure?the U.S. destroyer. Frank Knox, was re-floated from its grounded position 011 a coral reef in the South China Sea and has returned to active duty. The vessel, Jamaica Bay. also was raised by the company from waters off the coast of Vietnam. Murphy-Pacific Salvage is en-gaged in salvage in many parts of the world and maintains powerful salvage tugs in the Bay Area; San Pedro; New York City; Key West. Fla.. and Kingston, Jamaica. Mr. Murphy was formerly man-ager of the marine division of Mur-phy-Pacific Corp. which founded the salvage company. J. D. Deal Jr. J. R. Kane, director of engineer-ing at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., has announced the appointment of J. D. Deal Jr. as manager of the company's newly established Advanced Systems De-sign Group. The department will engage in systems engineering studies for proposed advanced military and commercial systems. Mr. Deal was formerly a deputy project director. He joined the ship-yard in 1947 and became an assis-tant engineer in 1959. Since then, he has served as associate engineer in the engineering technical depart-ment, assistant engineer in machin-ery design and assistant engineer in systems engineering. Mr. Deal be-came deputy project director in 1967. His experience includes service in the U.S. Navy and working as a turbine engineer for DeLaval Steam Turbine Co. Mr. Deal received both his B.S. and M.S. degrees in naval architec-ture and marine engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Gulfport To Build Twin-Screw Tugboat Gulfport Shipbuilding Corp., Port Arthur, Texas, has been con-tracted by Ultramar Chemical Co., to build a twin-screw tugboat. Designated Hull No. 724, it will have the following dimensions: 121 feet 6 inches by 34 feet by 17 feet 6 inches, and will be equipped with 4,000-total-bhp-diesel engines. THE FIRST OF SIX?Artist's conception of the 210,000-dwt tanker John A. McCone, latest addi tion to the Standard Oil Company of California fleet, which was christened recently at Kochum Shipyard in Malmo, Sweden, where it is approaching completion. The new vessel is named for the nationally known industrialist and former government official who is chairman of the board of the Joshua Hendy Corporation and a director of Standard of California. Mr. and Mrs. McCone, of San Marino, Calif., were present for the ceremony, with Mrs. McCone serving as sponsor and breaking the traditional bottle of champagne over the vessel's bow. The McCone, to be owned and operated by Chevron Transport Corporation, a Standard subsidiary, is scheduled to enter service this month. She has a cargo capacity of 1,600,000 barrels of crude oil and a maximum speed of 17 knots. Overall length of the vessel is 1,037 feet, with a 160-foot beam and a hull depth of 80 feet. When fully loaded, the McCone will have a 62-foot draft. 30 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News