Page 5: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1973)

Zapata Awards Avondale $50-Million

Contract For Semisubmersibles—Additional

Tug/Supply Vessels And Other Units To Be Built

ON THE COVER: Three new U.S.-flag semisubmersible offshore drilling rigs like this artist's conception will be built for Zapata Off-Shore Company by Avondale Shipyards,

Inc. in New Orleans. Construction on the advanced design, SS-2000 Class units will be- gin soon, with deliveries commencing in spring 1975.

Zapata Corporation, Houston,

Texas, has announced that a con- tract ^iras been signed with Avon- dale Shipyards, Inc., a subsidiary of Ogden Corporation, for construc- tion of three new semisubmersible offshore drilling rigs.

In addition, Zapata has an option to build a fourth rig. The total cost of the three rigs is approximately $50 million. Zapata's full cost of the three rigs is estimated to be ap- proximately $70 million.

The new rigs, to be called the

SS-2000 Series, are part of an over- all Zapata program calling for ap- proximately $124 million in capital commitments during the company's fiscal 1974. Other key elements of the program related to the offshore petroleum industry include con- struction of eight new tug/supply vessels for Zapata's marine service operations, at a total cost of more than $17 million. Some of these vessels will be U.S.-flag for opera- tion in the expanded search for hy- drocarbons in American coastal waters.

Zapata said that construction of the first of the SS-2000 rigs will start at Avondale's yard in New

Orleans, La., soon, with deliveries expected to commence in spring 1975 and to be completed by mid- 1976. The addition of this semi- submersible class 'brings to five the number of rigs now being built for

Zapata (two are scheduled for de- livery in 1974) at a total capital investment of approximately $115 million. The company currently has 14 rigs in operation, including three jackup units gained in Octo- ber, when Zapata acquired Crest- wave Offshore Services, Inc.

Zapata Off-Shore Company, a subsidiary, will own and operate the SS-2000 units, which will be capable of working in all but the most severe environments. The rigs will be initially outfitted for drilling in 1,000 feet of water, with a design capability for drilling in water of 2,000 feet. Drilling equip- ment will 'be capable of drilling to depths of more than 25,000 feet.

The SS-2000 units are of twin catamaran lower hull configuration, with six stabilizing columns. They will have an overall length of 260 feet, with maximum beam of 200 feet and depth to drilling deck of 80 feet. Variable deck load capa- city will be 2,000 tons. Featuring the latest equipment, the rigs will have motion compensators and au- tomatic pipe racking gear. Dis- placement of the vessels will be approximately 16,750 long tons at drilling draft of 45 feet. They will have quarters for 90 men. Rig de- sign conforms to both U.S. Coast

Guard and American Bureau of

Shipping classification standards.

William H. Flynn, Zapata chair- man and chief executive officer, said that proceeds from the July 5 Sale of its former international bulk shipping division had enabled Zapata to sub- stantially restructure its financial resources and to accelerate expansion of its existing businesses.

Mr. Flynn said that in addition to broadening the scope of its pre- sent operations, Zapata is pursuing efforts to become actively involved in U.S.-flag bulk shipping in a "sig- nificant way." He remarked that the company has been studying such alternatives since 1971, when it formed a New York-based sub- sidiary, Zapata Bulk Transport,

Inc., for that purpose.

Other major expenditures which

Zapata has announced since July 5 include the repayment of approxi- mately $100 million in senior bank de'bt and intercompany debt due the former shipping division, and the purchase of 25 percent of Za- pata's outstanding common stock for about $33 million in a Septem- ber tender offer.

Two key acquisitions have been completed in the past four months.

Zapata entered the tuna fishing busi- ness with the purchase of seven ex- isting tuna clippers for a total con- sideration of $19 million, and plans to add five more vessels in 1974 at an aggregate cost of $16 million.

Zapata expanded its offshore drill- ing fleet in October with the $20- million acquisition of Crestwave

Offshore Services, Inc., a New Or- leans-based company with three jackup rigs.

In addition to offshore drilling and marine services, activities of

Zapata Corporation (NYSE) in- clude petroleum exploration, cop- per and coal mining, menhaden and tuna fishing, and building and gen- eral construction.

Ogden's Avondale Shipyards, a leading American shipbuilder, is also a major producer of offshore rigs and fixed platforms. With the delivery of the three new rigs for

Zapata, Avondale will have con- structed a total of 10 since 1972.

D.W. Challinor

Appointed Manager

Yarrows Shipyard

D.W. (Don) Challinor has been appointed manager at the Yarrows

Limited shipyard at Victoria, Bri- tish 'Columbia, Canada, to succeed

William Maddock who has retired.

Mr. Challinor has wide experi- ence in the shipping and shipbuild- ing industries in Australia, Eng- land and Canada and joined Bur- rard Dry Dock Company in North

Vancouver in 1966, where he be- came chief engineer for the Bur- rard and Yarrows shipyards.

Mr. Challinor is a member of the

B.C. Association of Professional

Engineers, the Royal Institution of

Naval Architects, and the Institute of Marine Engineers.

Mr. Maddock, who joined Yar- rows in 1950, had been shipyard manager for 17 years before his retirement on October 31.

Free Enterprise Award

To James P. McAllister

James P. McAllister

James P. McAllister, president and chief executive officer of Mc-

Allister Brothers, Inc., has been presented with the annual "Free

Enterprise Award" from the Insur- ance Federation of New York at its 59th annual meeting and lunch- eon held on November 8, 1973.

Mr. McAllister is the third gen- eration of his family to direct the activities of this 109-year-old tow- ing company, which operates a fleet of 50 tugs on the waters of

New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk,

Puerto Rico, the Great Lakes and

St. Lawrence River. He has long been active in New York and na- tional maritime and defense activi- ties, and had previously been named "Man of the Year" by the Mari- time Association of the Port of

New York and the Foreign Com- merce 'Club of New York.

The award, presented for "out- standing achievements over the years in defense of free enterprise," has been given in the recent past to

Gilbert W. Fitzhugh, chairman of

Metropolitan Life, Nathan W.

Wentworth, chairman of The Con- tinental Corporation, and John C.

Emery, president of Emery Air- freight.

Ralph C. Gross, president of the

New York Chamber of Commerce and Industry, was the speaker at this year's luncheon at the Ameri- cana Hotel, which annually attracts a statewide audience of insurance, banking and other industry execu- tives.

Motorships, Inc. Names

Udo Reif President

The appointment of Udo Reif as president of Motorships, Inc. has been announced by Nils O. Seim, who retires to the position of chair- man of the board.

Mr. Reif was previously execu- tive vice president of Motorships.

He is also president of Motorships of Puerto Rico, Inc., and president of Univenture Shipping Corpora- tion of Monrovia, Liberia.

Motorships is a ship agency firm, founded 15 years ago, specializing in handling automobile ships. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Gulf Mo- torships, Inc., has offices in New Or- leans and Baton Rouge, La., and

Houston and Galveston, Texas, handling general cargoships, tank- ers and automobile carriers.

Motorships of Puerto Rico han- dles cruise ships, general cargo- ships and automobile ships.

December 1, 1973 9