Page 12: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1971)

American Company Awards

Multimillion Conversion

Contract to Kowloon Docks

Shown during the signing of the contract in the office of

Kowloon Docks are, left to right: I.M. Watson, manager.

Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Corp., Oakland, Calif.; W.E.

Ousterman, vice president and general manager, Kaiser

Cement & Gypsum Corp., Oakland, Calif.; R.H.A. Laps- ley, estimating department supervisor, Hongkong &

Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd., and M. Caplan, commercial manager, Hongkong & Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd.

One of the largest conversion contracts ever negotiated in Hong Kong has been concluded recently between Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Cor- poration, Oakland, Calif., and the Hongkong &

Whampoa Dock Co. Ltd., to convert the M/V

Orient Carrier (formerly Wakashio Maru) from a log carrier to a bulk cement carrier.

The Orient Carrier is a 6,333-dwt vessel. The arrangement and equipment for handling cement will be very similar to that of the M/V Taipan, another cement carrier owned by Kaiser Cement & Gypsum Corporation, which was repaired at

Kowloon Docks during 1970.

Owners will supply all the extensive cement handling equipment for installation. The vessel will have an air slide loading system which will distribute the cement to the self trimming holds.

Unloading will also be on the air slide system, discharging the cement into chain conveyors which feed a bucket elevator emptying into pneu- matic tanks which pump the cement ashore. The complete operation is handled from a control panel in the pump room and is virtually automatic.

Conversion work will be carried out alongside the Kowloon Docks yard and is expected to take about 16 weeks.

Kowloon Docks is represented in the United

States by Robert M. Catharine Jr. as sub-agent to United States Navigation Inc.

National River Academy

Graduates 34 Tankermen

The National River Academy of the United

States of America, Helena, Ark., has graduated a total of 34 students from the waterway indus- try. Recent classes consisted of experienced river men from the following barge Lines and termi- nals : American Commercial Barge Line Com- pany, Jeffersonville, Ind.; Igert, Inc., Paducah,

Ky.; Ingram Barge Company, New Orleans, La.;

A.L. Mechling Barge Lines, Joliet, 111.; Oil

Transport Company, New Orleans, La.; Union

Barge Line Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Upper

Mississippi Towing Corporation, Minneapolis,

Minn.; Mississippi Coastal Chemical Company,

Pascagoula, Miss.; Paymaster Oil Meal Company,

Osceola, Ark., and Pine Bluff Terminal Ware- house Company, Pine Bluff, Ark.

The course content primarily covers the train- ing of personnel in the handling of Grade "A" and below grades of liquids, in addition to LFG products. The student becomes familiar with the general arrangement of cargo tanks, suction and discharge pipe lines, valves, cargo pumps, and cargo hoses. Also, he is instructed in the hand- ling of flammable, combustible liquid cargoes, liquid flammable gases, and bulk dangerous car- goes having hazards other than, or in addition to, the conventional flammability and combustibility of petroleum products.

Floyd A. Mechling, president of the board of directors, states that future courses for mas- ters, pilots, mates, engineers, deckhands, etc. will be determined at the annual board of directors meeting.

Tidal Marine Int'l To Buy 20 Dry Cargo Bulk Ships

Tidal Marine International Corp., the New

York based international shipping company, has announced plans for the purchase of 20 dry cargo bulk carriers at a cost of about $22.5 million.

The company also made known that it has con- tracted for the construction of three new liquid product carriers, each of approximately 28,500 deadweight tons. Cost of the new tankers will be about $26 million.

According to the announcement, the bulk car- rier purchase will increase the dry bulk carrying capacity of the company to 230,000 tons.

It was also stated that about 10 of the bulk vessels will be operated under long-term charter, with the other half to be assigned employment under short-term charter arrangements. Delivery of the vessels is tentatively scheduled to be com- pleted by next summer.

The tankers, to be able to haul up to eight grades of oil, will be delivered during 1972-73.

They will be chartered-out on a long-term basis, the announcement states.

Last February, Tidal announced plans to ac- quire four tankers having an aggregate cargo capacity of nearly 100,000 tons. The four tank- ers, along with the construction of the three additional ships and the purchase of the 20 bulk carriers, will bring Tidal Marine's fleet to 42 ships having a total capacity of about 750,000 deadweight tons, the company states.

A whale of a story

In 1958, our pneumatic rubber fenders started replacing whales*'

The time-honored custom of using whales as fenders between whaling ships made way for a more economical and effective method, when we invented the pneumatic rubber fender back in 1958.

The advantages are obvious: highest flex- ibility, outstanding absorbing power, and, where whales didn't last too long, our patented three-layer construction assures long and dependable perform- ance under even the worst sea and weather conditions. And, thanks to our special installation method, the fenders adjust to the ship's as well as tidal movements.

They come in a wide range of sizes, with 1.920 ft-kips models for 500,000-

DWT tankers available on request.

So use our fenders, and you save a whale. It's cheaper that way. nner rubber

CONSTRUCTION OF A FENDER

It consists of an outer rubber layer, a reinforcement synthetic cord layer, and an interior rubber layer, and has a rational construction wherein charac- teristics of respective layers are utiliz- ed to the fullest.

For further information, please get in contact with section M-3 of our export department; or, for the U.S.A. and Canadian market, with the Mitsubishi International Corp., Houston Branch (1101, First City National Bank

Bldg. Houston, Texas 77002, U.S.A. Phone: 228-7423—5) or New York Branch (277 Park Aveneue, New York, N.Y. 10017 U.S.A. Phone: 922-3700). They'll be happy to go into details. <$> YOKOHAMA THE YOKOHAMA RUBBER CO..LTD. P.O Box: No 46. Shiba.Tokyo.l05-Japan Telex: TK4673 YOKORUCO Cable Address: "YOKORUCO TOKYO" Telephone: Tokyo 432-7111 14 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News