Page 33: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 15, 1973)

Globe Engineering Demonstrates Ingenuity

In Performing Modifications To SEDCO 135

SEDCO 135 resting on the bottom of the Duncan Dock at Capetown, South Africa, while Globe Engineering Works performed modifications to the mooring arrangements.

N.Y. Metropolitan Section Hears Paper

Describing The Pilot Vessel New York

Principals shown above at the meeting in Frounces Tavern are, left to right: Robert G.

Mende, national secretary, SNAME: authors Feridun K. Serim, vice president and

Washington branch manager, Lester Rosenblatt, president and naval architect, Stuart

H. Grossman, chief electrical engineer, all of M. Rosenblatt & Son, Inc.; Charles W.

Wilson, chairman, N.Y. Metropolitan Section, SNAME; Donald B. Carpenter, vice chair- man, N.Y. Metropolitan Section; Monroe D. Macpherson, chairman, Committees on

Sections, SNAME, and Norman R. Farmer, executive committee, N.Y. Section.

Ingenuity and know-how were displayed recently by 'Globe Engi- neering Works, Ltd., of Capetown,

South Africa in the performance of modifications to SEDCO 135, one of the world's largest column-sta- bilized semi-submersible offshore drilling rigs. The owners of the rig,

SEDCO, Inc. of Dallas, Texas, had chartered the unit to the oil-explor- ation combine of Chevron/Caltex/

Soekor to operate in their conces- sion in the Mossel Bay area off the east coast of Africa. Due to the weather conditions in this area, the owners felt that certain modifica- tions would be necessary prior to going into operation. Globe Engi- neering, through its New York representative James R. Porter, re- ceived the modification contract.

Basically these modifications cen- tered around the mooring arrange- ment of the triangular-shaped rig where it was necessary to modify the platform at the top of each of the three corner columns to accept larger and heavier mooring winch- es. The immediate problem was the fact that even with the rig sub- merged to rest on the bottom of

Duncan Dock, the height of the main deck (166 feet) was such that the floating crane could not foe util- ized to lift the new components into position. It was therefore de-

Rolls-Royce; Kawasaki

Study Marine Uses

For RB.21I Engine

Rolls-Royce (1971) Limited have agreed with Kawasaki Heavy Indus- tries of Japan to carry out a feasi- bility study with the use of gas turbine engines in merchant vessels such as containerships, LNG tankers, and car ferries. The study will in- clude the possibility of using a mari- nized version of the Rolls-Royce

RB.211 engine, power plant of the

Lockheed Tristar airliner.

A marine version of the RB.211 would have a specific fuel consump- tion significantly lower than the ex- isting gas turbine, and approaching that of the diesel engine. The RB.211 cided that a special "A" frame der- rick be manufactured and mounted on the top of each corner caisson in turn to make the heavy lifts.

After the removal of the an- chors, old mooring chains, wire rope and existing fairleads, the rig was submerged to rest on the bottom in the Duncan Dock. The 60-ton capacity floating crane was used to remove the existing three anchor winches and to install the heavy- lift "A" frame derrick. After cut- ting away and lowering the exist- ing platforms, new platforms which had been manufactured ashore, were lifted and welded in position.

Each platform weighed over 30 tons.

Thereafter, the nine new winches which had been shipped from the

United States were lifted into posi- tion and the new mooring ropes spooled onto the winch drums. Each winch weighed in excess of 52 tons and holds 4,800 feet of three-inch diameter wire rope. On completion of the heavy-lift program, the rig was raised and the new fairleads in- stalled on the lower part of each column.

In addition to these essential modifications, other work was per- formed on the drilling rig, such as modifications to the diving plat- form and living accommodations. could, therefore, radically alter the viability of using gas turbines in mer- chant ships.

KHI concluded a license agreement with Rolls-Royce (1971) for the manufacture in Japan of industrial and marine versions of the Olympus gas turbine.

KHI, in addition to its gas turbine activities, is engaged in merchant shipbuilding and operation, and thus brings to the study of new marine gas turbine applications a wide ex- perience in the mercantile field.

At present, Rolls-Royce supply over 90 percent of the world's gas turbine horsepower for naval ship propulsion, and brings to this study nearly 20 years of experience with gas turbines at sea.

The New York Metropolitan Sec- tion of The Society of Naval Ar- chitects and Marine Engineers met on January 16, 1973, at Fraunces

Tavern in New York City.

A social hour and dinner pre- ceded the technical session, at which a paper was presented entitled "An

Unusual Little Ship—Pilot Vessel

New York," by Lester Rosenblatt,

Feridun K. Serim, and Stuart H.

Grossman of M. Rosenblatt & Son,

Inc.

The pilot boat New York must maintain her station off Ambrose

Light Tower in weather of every intensity for periods exceeding 30 days at a time. Her function is to provide pilot transfer capability and comfortable living facilities for the pilots who handle all inbound and outbound shipping for the Port of New York. This was to be done at minimum cost; consequently, the

P/B New York is a work boat whose austerity is apparent in all spaces except those used for pilots' messing and recreation.

The P/B New York is a 182-foot 6-inch length overall twin-screw twin-rudder diesel ship of 1,700 bhp, with a design displacement of 840 tons and a full load displace- ment of 914 tons.

Although her design sustained speed is 14 knots, she has a' maxi- mum speed of more than 15 knots.

The P/B New York was designed and constructed to meet the latest standards of the U.S. Coast Guard;

U.S. Department of Health, Educa- tion and Welfare, and the require- ments of the American Bureau of

Shipping for classification + A-l (E) Pilot Service + AMS.

The paper describes some of the major features of the pilot boat

New York and presents the design approaches that were utilized in the development of a ship to meet the special requirements of pilot boat service for the Port of New

York.

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February 15, 1973 35