Page 37: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 15, 1973)

Moore McCormack Subsidiary

Awards $70-Million Contract

To American Ship Building Co.

Pickands Mather & Co., a subsidiary of

Moore and McCormack 'Co., Inc. (NYSE, Pa- cific), and The American Ship Building Com- pany (NYSE), both of Cleveland, Ohio, an- nounced jointly the largest shipbuilding con- tract in the ,history of the Great Lakes.

Two 1,000-foot self-unloading bulk freight- ers will be built by American Ship for Pick- ands Mather's Interlake Steamship Company fleet.

The announcement was made by Elton Hoyt, president and chief executive officer of Pick- ands Mather, and George M. Steinbrenner, chairman and chief executive officer of Ameri- can Ship, who stated that Pickands Mather has an option on future drydock space for the building of two additional 1,000-tfooters.

Both new ships will be built at American

Ship's Lorain, Ohio, yard, with the first ship being delivered in July 1976, and the second in July 1977.

The estimated combined cost of the two ships is over $70 million, pending working out final design and contract details.

James R. Barker, chairman of Moore and

McCormack Co., Inc., indicated that in financ- ing construction of the new Great Lakes ves- sels, the company will utilize the Title XI provisions of the Merchant Marine Act of 1970, which provides for Government guaranty to creditors of up to 87y2 percent of the cost of ships built for use in domestic trade.

To permit construction of these super self- unloaders, American Ship has already contract- ed with The Horvitz 'Co. of Cleveland to ex- pand its largest present drydock from 925 feet to 1,020 feet, starting immediately.

Building of the two ships will have a signifi- cant economic impact on the Lorain-Cleve- land area. American Ship expects to increase its existing work force at Lorain by some 300 jobs. Also required will be the purchase of large amounts of material, steel and equipment from area manufacturers and suppliers.

The new ships, having a 105-

Great Lakes.

Presently planned to be of conventional

Great Lakes design with pilothouse forward and propulsion aft, the ships will be twin- screw and powered .by two 8.000-hp diesel engines. The loaded speed will be about 16 moh. Propulsion will be controlled from the pilothouse through variable pitch propellers.

The ships will have multiple one-piece hatch- es for loading, and a system of belts running beneath the cargo hold for unloading. These belts will transfer cargo to another belt on a 250-foot boom .that can be swung- out from either side of the shin for unloading. These unloading facilities will provide very fast car- go discharge, about 10,000 gross tons of pellets and 6,000 net tons of coal per hour. Both loading and unloading times will be minimized by multiple high-capacity ballast discharge and fill oumps.

All of the ship's navigating and safety fa- cilities, as well as crew accommodations and service equipment, will be the most modern in the industry.

Commenting on Pickands Mather's decision to build the two 1,000-foot self-unloaders for the Interlake Steamship Company fleet, Mr.

Hoyt said : "While this is the biggest expan- sion of our fleet ever, both in tonnage and investment, it is the third step in as many years to further increase Interlake's cargo ca- pacity to meet the continually growing needis of our iron ore and coal customers. At the same time, we will be increasing fleet efficiency as a means of combating the constantly higher operating and maintenance costs we have faced over the past several years."

He added : "The new 5.4-million-ton iron ore pellet facility we are building in Minnesota with Bethlehem Steel Corporation, which will start producing in 1976, was a key factor in the decision to build these ships."

In mentioning previously expanded capacity,

Mr. Hoyt was referring to lengthening of the

S/S Charles M. Beeghly in 1971 and the fleet's flagship, the S/S John Sherwin, in 1972. Both ships were lengthened by 96 feet to 806 feet, increasing their cargo capacities to 30,000 tons per trip and making them the largest conven- tional type bulk freighters on the Great Lakes.

Interlake now has 13 bulk freighters having a combined capacity of 244,400 tons of iron ore per trip, making it one of the largest U.S. fleets on the Lakes. The two new ships rep- resent 118,000 tons of .additional fleet capacity.

Pickands 'Mather's parent company, Moore and McCormack Co., Inc., headquartered in

New York, also has a major shipbuilding pro- gram in progress. It is having three 38,000-ton tankers built at National Steel & Shipbuilding,

San Diego, Calif., for delivery in 1975, 1976 and 1977. These ships will be operated by an- other subsidiary, Moore-McCormack Bulk

Transport, Inc., on seven-year charters to Shell

International Petroleum Company.

The new 'Interlake and Moore and McCor- mack ships are being built through Title XI financing guarantee provisions of the Merchant

Marine Act of 1970. Interlake's lengthening of the S/S Charles M. Beeghly in 1971 was the first use of the Act's capital construction fund provision on the Great Lakes.

IF YOU MTE EXPERIENCE HIGHLY, /'^NMCIINFB ^LI/IN YADU |J|M inside out. After all, 35 years of working

VUlldll/LK infill IvKn nin«*« in boiler repairs has taught him a

PCCW thing or two about his work. It's made him quite an expert. But Chan

Ilk d DKakl 1 1 York Hin always has been just that. Because even when he joined us

I^Q /IT IfFBBCI 'way back in 1938, he already was a skilled Boilermaker.

I rlL 9\JO H I IlLr r EL He just had to prove it to us. And to our customers, fM H I And that's exactly what he did. So over the years Chan York Hin rUK VV I ELflKd I patiently and methodically worked his way up. Up the long ladder of experience until he earned the title of Chargehand, the position he holds today.It's a position that places him in a supervisory capacity over a team of 30 boilermakers. And because they've got Chan York Hin to guide them, they're a very skilled team indeed. They're skilled and professional like all Keppel men. And there are plenty of them-3,000 men in all. It's these Keppel men who make our shipyard one of the finest in Asia. We have the capacity to undertake any type of work on any type of vessel. And that includes ship repair and maintenance, conversions, annuals and specials. If you're in shipping and you rate experience highly, think of Keppel Shipyard. Think of the Keppel men. a

Keppel Shipyard (Private) Limited.

P.O. Box 2169, Singapore. Tel: 631711, Cable: Keppeldok, Telex: RS 21367

Agent in USA/Canada: James A. McQuilling, Midland Marine Brok Inc., One Penn Plaza, New York,

N.Y. 10001, Tel: 212.736-2666 after hours 516 Manhasset 75435 or 212 Flushing 37215, Telex 232081, Cable: Midmarbrok New York.

December 15, 1973 39