E.M. Hood Reports Shipbuilders Optimistic Over Long-Term Future
In his year-end statement, Edwin M. Hood, president and board chairman of the Shipbuilders Council of America, a national trade association representing the nation's major commercial shipyards and suppliers of marine equipment and materials, stated, in part: "U.S. shipbuilding and ship repairing events in 1976 were shaped by many complex developments, and the record for the year has accordingly been speckled by both encouraging and discouraging influences.
"Naval shipbuilding has been constantly in the limelight. Debates among legislators and Administration officials on types and sizes of ships to be built for the U.S. Navy to counter the Soviet threat at sea have been mostly indecisive. .. .
"Disputes among civilian and military authorities, in the last 12 months, have frustrated repeated endeavors to resolve shipbuilders' claims totaling nearly $2 billion resulting from contractural imperfections. . . .
"As a consequence, Navy/shipbuilding industry relationships at year-end are not much closer to stabilization than they were at the start of 1976. This situation has been further compounded by announced plans to revive ship construction in naval shipyards whose costs h i s t o r i c a l l y have been shown to be considerably higher than those of private shipbuilders. . . .
"All of these developments have tended to obscure the fact that: 11 private shipyards are presently engaged in the construction of 88 naval vessels (of 1,000 light tons and over) ; Congressional appropriations for Navy shipbuilding and conversion commitments in Fiscal '77 reached a peacetime high of $6.2 billion; forecasts of Fiscal '78 funding are even higher, and employment of skilled workers involved in Navy work has remained fairly stable and will probably increase slightly over the next two years. .. .
"Over the past five years, merchant shipbuilders have also been operating at high levels, but unlike naval shipbuilders, the current backlog of contracts is rapidly dwindling, and the outlook for follow-on orders is hardly comforting. This downturn is attributable to the persisting world shipping depression. . . .
"At present, 18 American shipyards are building 78 merchant ships (each of 1,000 gross tons and over), totaling 4,373,600 gross tons, but at the close of 1978, only 11 of these will remain to be delivered. . . .
"There is much hope that the Carter Administration will take cognizance of this situation. President Carter, during the recent campaign, supported the concept of cargo preference for Americanflag shipping in all trades—a perception which has growing bipartisan support on Capitol Hill.
Further, there has been increasing sentiment, in and out of gov- ernment, favoring more bilateral shipping agreements. A national policy to activate these purposes could generate a substantial volume of merchant shipbuilding opportunities for U.S.
shipyards. .. .
"Meanwhile, there should be a limited demand for Great. Lakes vessels, liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers, containerships, roll-on/roll-off vessels, tug/barge units, heavy-lift ships and other miscellaneous craft. More than $350 million in Congressionally appropriated funds are available to support the government's share in the construction of some of these vessels. . . .
"With regard to offshore drilling rigs, nine units are now under construction, and all will have been delivered by 1978 . . . . Throughout the world, few new contracts for drill rigs were placed in 1976.
Exploration and exploitation of oil and gas resources on the Outer Continental Shelf, now contemplated along the Atlantic Coast, could revive this segment of the U.S. industry . . . . Enactment of legislation encouraging maximum use of U.S. constructed rigs and drilling vessels on the Continental Shelf, as has been advocated by the U.S. shipbuilding industry and others, could provide a beneficial stimulus.
"Fortunately, the situation pertaining to ship repairing is far more stable. Some decrease in merchant ship repairing because of the lingering shipping recession is likely. On the other hand, an increase in naval ship repairing is anticipated. The material quality of many vessels in the U.S. Navy fleet continues to be a matter of deep concern to the Navy leadership as well as to the Congress, and overdue upgrading of certain of these ships in private shipyards cannot longer be avoided.
"Though the short-term outlook is uncertain, U.S. shipbuilders remain optimistic with regard to the long-term future. Naval and merchant vessels, as well as offshore drilling units, must be built if U.S. national interests are to be properly served. If President Carter is to fulfill his campaign pledge of combating unemployment by creating jobs in the private sector, they will be built— and repaired—in American shipyards."
Other stories from February 1977 issue
Content
- SNAME Publishes New Vibration Code page: 4
- Request Aid To Build Four LNG Carriers At Cost Of $800 Million page: 6
- Rohr Outlines Plans For Design, Construction And Component Testing Of 3,000-Ton Navy SES page: 7
- John Grimwade Francis Named President Of Asiatic Petroleum Corp. page: 7
- PFEL Requests CDS To Convert Four Vessels At A Cost Of $24 Million page: 7
- Far East-Levingston Delivers Drillship Diamond M Dragon page: 7
- MarAd Approves CDS For APL To Reconstruct Four Containerships page: 7
- Western Gear Receives $3.4-Million Contract From Deepsea Ventures page: 8
- Dravo Corporation Names C.J. Donoghue page: 8
- Earle Pitt Elected Foxboro Board Chairman page: 9
- Chesterton Bulletin Describes New Coating For Marine Maintenance page: 10
- Newport News Signs Letter Of Intent To Build 600,000-DWT Nuclear-Propelled Tankers page: 10
- Calship Receives Loan To Finance Improvements page: 10
- PRMSA Appoints Lugo Executive Director page: 10
- Platner Promoted At Bethlehem Steel Corp. Baltimore Repair Yards page: 12
- Marvin Griffin Joins Matson Navigation Co. page: 13
- Electro-Nav Installs Atlas S-Band Radar On U.S.-Flag Tanker page: 13
- Peterson Receives $33.6-Million Contract For Two Heavy-Lift Ships page: 13
- Free Literature On Fire Extinguishers Available From Kidde page: 13
- SNAME San Diego Announces Site For 1980 Spring Meeting page: 13
- SNAME Philadelphia Section Hears Technical Paper On Pipelay Barge SEMAC I At Past Chairman's Night page: 14
- U.S. Navy Awards Maritime Industries Ltd. $1.7-Million Contract page: 14
- Zapata Bulk Transport Names Skeele President page: 15
- Skagit Corporation Appoints Three page: 15
- Pakistan Nationalizes Entire Merchant Fleet page: 15
- Lemont Shipbuilding Elects Roche President page: 15
- Peterson Launches CF Industries' First Integrated Tug/Barge Unit page: 16
- Texaco Announces Three Appointments In Marine Department page: 18
- Corrosion Engineers Name Bernard Schmidt page: 18
- Halter Marine Launches 180-Foot Supply Vessel For Arthur Levy Boat page: 20
- Petro-Marine Names Easley Project Manager page: 20
- Dravo Corp. Awarded $4 Million To Build Barge Unloader page: 20
- Navy To Procure Five Boeing PHM Hydrofoils Costing $282.1 Million page: 20
- Owens-Corning Booklet Describes New LNG Containment System page: 20
- Kockums Computer System Speeds Decision Making In Ship Accidents page: 21
- Equitable Shipyards Delivers First Of Five Twin-Screw Tugs To Indonesian Government page: 22
- Puerto Rico's First Shipyard Launched With $9-Million Loan page: 23
- Newport News Launches First Commercial Ship In Eight Years—LNG Carrier El Paso Southern page: 24
- SNAME New York Metropolitan Section Holds First 1977 Meeting—Jakobson Honored page: 24
- PFEL Accepts Bethlehem Bid Of $20 Million For Ship Conversion page: 25
- Martin Named President Of Korea Gulf Oil Co. page: 25
- Newport News To Double Capacity For Repairing Commercial Vessels page: 26
- R.A. Baker To Head New Hillman Company page: 26
- Lykes Bros. Elects R. Koch And L. Guerin Corporate Officers page: 27
- General Steamship Corp. Announces Promotions page: 27
- SNAME Publishes Full Computer Analysis Of Shipping Operations page: 27
- Tano Gets Contract For Vessel Control Systems page: 32
- APL Makes Personnel Promotions Worldwide page: 32
- Bethlehem's Sparrows Point Yard Delivers 530,000 DWT In 1976 page: 32
- Hydranautics Trans-Lift Systems Move 12-Story-High LNG Spheres page: 33
- Port Of N.Y. & N.J. Directory Available page: 33
- Jeffboat Lays Keel For 200-Foot Ferryboat To Operate On Mississippi At New Orleans page: 33
- International Paint Enters Commercial Agreement With Nippon Paint Co. page: 33
- Brown & Root Names Executive Committee To Manage Company page: 33
- Roland Kjelland Named Executive Vice President Kaiser Steel Corp. page: 34
- Newport News Shipyard Apprentice School Graduates First Women page: 34
- Agri-Trans Corporation Christens New Towboat— The St. Louis-Built Cooperative Venture page: 35
- Paducah Marine Ways Names Louis J. Roof page: 35
- The Whitehall Club Honors George W. Rogers page: 35
- 630-Foot Hydranautics Portable Pier Erected And Unloading Ships In 66 Hours page: 36
- Oil Mop's Method Of Cleaning Studied By French Delegation page: 36
- Ben Nutter Retires- Port Of Oakland Appoints Abernathy page: 36
- AquaBeam Appoints Arnessen Marine page: 37
- Liberian Shipping Council Elects Liang Chairman, Presses Safety Program page: 37
- Kurz Interests And Moran Shipping Agencies Organize New Agency page: 38
- MarAd Transfers Mitchell To Washington page: 38
- MarAd Publishes Std. Specifications For Diesel Ship Construction page: 39
- Cryogenic Control Valves Offer Economies At Subzero Temperatures page: 40
- R.D. Carter Forms Intermodal Systems Co. page: 40
- PRMSA Names Irizarry Deputy Executive Director page: 40
- Abex/Denison Introduces New Trimline Family Of Hydraulic Pumps page: 41
- Offshore Technology Conference Scheduled For May 2-5 In Houston page: 41
- Alden Data Sheet Lists Marine Weather Chart Transmitting Sites page: 41
- E.M. Hood Reports Shipbuilders Optimistic Over Long-Term Future page: 42
- Marathon Receives Contract For 300-Foot Drilling Tender page: 42
- Seatrain Agencies Names J.W. Honan VP page: 42
- Prudential Lines Appoints Assistant Traffic Managers page: 42
- Astilleros Espanoles Designs Versatile 12,000-DWT Ro/Ro Ship For Multiple Production page: 43
- SNAME Los Angeles Section Told Of Plans For Commercial Development Of The Oceans page: 43
- Maynard Designs Two-Year Expansion Plan For Venezuela Shipyard page: 43
- Cali Furnishing Tacoma NC Lofting Services page: 43
- Graduate Students Present Papers To SNAME New England Section page: 44
- Delta Steamship Lines Names Dale Miller page: 44
- Winthrop A. Wyman Named Executive Vice President Gulf Marine Management page: 44
- Western Shipbuilders Elect Alfred Moloney Association President page: 44
- Gulf Trading & Transportation Promotes W. Stark And J. Allen page: 45
- Velodur Coldwelding Can Cut Costly Repairs page: 45
- Security Bureau Elects W.J. Shields President page: 45
- ICHCA Appoints Finlay New Secretary General page: 46
- Staff Additions And Changes Announced By ACBL page: 47
- Harold Neville Named Chief Design Engineer Portsmouth Naval Yard page: 48
- Saint John Shipbuilding Completes Trials Of 38,000-DWT Tanker M / V Dolores Swann page: 48
- First Of Two New Tugs Joins Wijsmuller Fleet For Servicing North Sea Oil Production Units page: 49
- San Francisco Area Sections Of SNAME And ASNE Told Of Business Problems In Ship Maintenance page: 49
- Spiltrol Harbor Skimmer Delivered page: 49
- Rep. McCloskey And Patterson Address California Chapter Of Kings Point Alumni Assoc. page: 50
- ASARCO Donates Lead For Full-Scale Replica Of Famous Colonial Sloop page: 50
- Equitable Ships First Tug To Indonesia On Louise Lykes page: 51
- International Paint Appoints Two Specialists In Coatings page: 52
- SNAME Pacific Northwest Section Honors Members And Views 'Arctic Sealift Expedition, 1975' page: 52
- MacGregor Describes Cost Saving Hatch Cover page: 52