Page 40: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1971)

Patent Rights For Joining Tugs And Barges

Offered To Operators By Tug Barge Systems, Inc.

Tug Barge Systems, Inc., a corporation equally owned by Breit Engineering, Inc. and

Ingram Corporation, both of New Orleans,

La., has recently been formed. The new com- pany will offer a license for the rights to use certain patents and "know-how" developed by

Breit Engineering, Inc. in connection with the rigid joining of oceangoing tugs and barges.

The tug and barge are designed to produce a single integrated unit when the two are joined with a locking system which prevents relative movement and results in a ships'haped form. By itself, the tug has good independent operating characteristics as an oceangoing ves- sel. Both the tug and the barge, as well as the combination when connected, have been ap- proved and certificated by the U.S. Coast

Guard and classed by the American Bureau of Shipping.

Tug Barge Systems, Inc. states that since the tug and barge can be built in separate yards where the efficiencies of specialization may be fully achieved, the tug-barge concept results in a lower cost unit than the cost of a similarly powered and sized ship, yet it can proceed at the same speed. This split of con-

Carboline Marine Division

Names McGinnis In New York

The Marine Division of Carboline Interna- tional, St. Louis, Mo., announces the appoint- ment of J.M. (Jim) McGinnis as marine coat- ings sales representative in the New York

City area.

Mr. McGinnis has 17 years of experience with corrosion control materials and their ap- plication in the marine, oil, pipleine and gas distribution industries. He has worked in both sales and sales management capacities. Mr.

McGinnis is a graduate of the University of

New Mexico and a member of the National

Association of Corrosion Engineers.

Carboline International develops and manu- factures a broad line of corrosion resistant pro- tective coatings, tank linings, deck coatings and anti-fouling materials for ships, boats, barges and marine installations. Headquarters are located at 328 Hanley Industrial Court, St.

Louis, Mo. 63144. struction also brings about more competition by producing bids from yards that would oth- erwise be unable to quote on the construction of a large ship.

The method of connection is the heart of the system. It consists essentially of a deep notch with a partial bottom at the stern of the barge with three-sided wedges on the barge notch wings which support the tug. A large hydraulic cylinder at the tug's bow holds the tug secure- ly in position. The tug and barge will then act as a rigid unit in a seaway, such that steering and handling is the same as a ship erf the same size. The connection is designed to withstand the highest forces expected in an ocean storm, and separation will never be needed because of weather conditions. Separation could be ef- fected quickly without undue damage under emergency conditions, such as fire, grounding or collision, this feature being in reality an ad- ditional factor of safety for life at sea.

The first tug-barge unit in service, the tug

Martha R. Ingram and the barge I.O S. 3301, designed by Breit Engineering, Inc., has been through both hurricanes Edith and Dora with- out separation and no adverse effects.

Hydrographic Survey Underway

Off Southern California Coast

An extensive hydrographic survey is under- way off the southern California coast to ob- tain up-to-date depth and oceanographic in- formation of the sea bottom for nautical charts and bathymetric maps.

The survey is being conducted in a 2,500- square-mile area, including San Pedro Channel and the waters around Santa Catalina and

San Clemente Islands. The NOAA ship Rai- nier is carrying out the three-month project.

The 231-foot, 1.660-ton ship under command of Capt. Roger F. Lanier of Seattle, Wash., has a normal complement of 79.

The Rainier's mission is part of a long-range program, now in its fifth year, to rechart with modern equipment the entire west coast and to map the sea bottom along the continental shelf. The vessel will provide detailed informa- tion on water depths over submerged hazards and channels and the general shape of the ocean bottom for future exploration and ma- rine studies.

The ship is working now off the east coast of San Clemente Island. The vessel will obtain continuous graphic profiles of the bottom's configuration. The survey will reveal the loca- tion and extent of underwater features, such as canyons, ridges, mountains, valleys and plains for portrayal on nautical charts and bathymetric maps. This information will be used to show safe approaches to the coast, will aid Federal, state, and industrial interests in exploring and developing shelf resources and will provide marine scientists with an up-to- date reference base for studying the structure, composition and formation of the sea bottom.

The Rainier is equipped with a data acquisi- tion system capable of automatically recording and plotting hydrographic data. The vessel uses an electronic echo sounder to measure and record water depths. This instrument records depths by measuring the velocity of sound waves emitted from equipment mounted in the vessel's hull. Returning echoes are con- verted to distance or depth and form a continu- ous graphic profile of the sea floor. The posi- tions of water depth data and underwater fea- tures recorded along the vessel's course are determined with electronic instruments. As this is done, automated equipment codes and plots the information.

Foreign-Flag Ships

Owned By U.S. Companies

Published By MarAd

The Maritime Administration's updated publi- cation "Foreign-Flag Ships Owned by United

States Parent Companies as of December 31, 1970," is now available in limited quantities, ac- cording to an announcement by that agency.

Copies can be obtained from the Public Affairs

Office, Room 4893, Department of Commerce

Building, Washington, D.C.

American Export Industries

Completes Subsidiary Sale

American Export Industries, Inc. has announc- ed it had completed the sale of its wholly owned computer and aircraft leasing subsidiary, Nation- al Equipment Rental, Ltd., to North American

Car Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of

The Flying Tiger Corporation. The sale price was 21 million dollars, payable in cash and notes.

The effect of the sale has been the reduction of AEI's obligation to the banks under a Re- volving Credit and Loan Agreement by approxi- mately 33.5 million dollars, according to an AEI spokesman.

NINE FOR SINGAPORE: Show under way during trials recently held in Lake Pontchartrain is Locolina IX an

Equity Standard 59-foot water taxi. With the completion of this vessel, Equitable Equipment Company, Inc., New

Orleans, La., brought to a successful conclusion a build- ing program involving nine offshore boats for the account of Robin Shipyard (Pte) Ltd. of Singapore. All of the crew boats are named Locolina and are numbered I through IX. Ordered in late 1 970, the vessels were com- pleted on schedule and shipped singly and in pairs to

Singapore from where they will operate in the Strait of

Malacca and the South China Sea. Five of the Locolinas are the well-known Equity 59 footers. The remaining four are the 65-foot vessels, latest in the line of Equity

Standard water taxis.

The 1 1,250-hp tug Martha R. Ingram is shown in the notch of the 285,500-barrel barge l.O.S. 3301 42 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News