Page 23: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 15, 1977)

The American Club

Elects Thomas J. Smith

As Deputy Chairman

Thomas J. Smith

Thomas J. Smith, director, president and chief executive of- ficer of Farrell Lines Incorporated, has been elected deputy chairman of the American Steamship Own- ers Mutual Protection and In- demnity Association, Inc. (The

American Club).

The announcement was made at the club's monthly meeting in

New York City by Adolph B.

Kurz, chairman of The American

Club, the only mutual nonprofit

P&I club in the United States.

Ocean Supply, Inc.

Relocates In Houston

Ocean Supply, Inc., Houston, has relocated from the Ship Chan- nel area to 7444 Calhoun Road,

Houston, Texas. Mailing address is P.O. Box 20226, Houston, Texas 77025. The facilities are located on four acres and include 10,000 square feet of air-conditioned warehousing and a 20,000-square- foot steel warehouse building.

Ocean Supply sells domestically and internationally mooring sys- tem equipment including large anchors and chain, buoys, cord- age and large wire ropes and fittings.

Marine Concrete

Forms Repair Division

Formation of a new repair di- vision was announced by Marine

Concrete Structures, Inc. Opera- tions were scheduled to begin last month, with the facility concen- trating on hull repairs and alter- ations for barges, tugs and work- boats. "As the search for oil and gas intensifies in the Gulf of Mexico, there will be heavy demands for crafts of all types to support this activity," Don Payne, Marine

Concrete Structures president, said. "In addition, LASH-type vessels with their many small barges are adding to the strain on maintenance facilities in the area. Already, present yards are overcrowded, creating costly de- lays in getting boats and barges back into service. We hope by specializing in hull work, we'll be able to get these craft in and out in faster time, saving com- panies and owners money in downtime," Mr. Payne continued.

The division occupies a site of 85 acres at Port Bienville, Miss., just off the heavily traveled In- tracoastal Waterway. Services to be offered are metal fabricating, cutting, welding, sandblasting and painting. Fiberglass capability is also included.

Marine Concrete Structures presently has a construction yard at Port Bienville for constructing concrete gravity structures, plat- form slabs, walkways, beams and piling for the offshore oil indus- try, girders for highway over- passes and piling and panels for the building construction industry.

The addition of steel fabricating to its concrete capabilities will en- able Marine Concrete Structures to actively participate in the building of steel jacket struc- tures, steel walkways, boat bump- ers, wellhead protectors and other products for the oil industry, Mr.

Payne added.

J9L

American-Darling Valve

A Division of Amencan Cast Iron Pipe Company

P O. Box 2727, Birmingham, Alabama 35202

The yard is equipped with a 57-foot by 63-foot drydock capa- ble of lifting up to 300 tons. A second drydock is scheduled to be added before the end of the year. Over a mile of water front- age is available for staging, al- lowing for a large volume of work without overcrowding.

Frank Anastasio Jr., vice pres- ident, is in charge of the division, assisted by Val Hamann, super- visor of repairs.

Revolving discs vs. solid wedge gate in marine service

American-Darling Revolving

Discs features: 1. No pockets on discs to collect deposits. 2. Discs contact seats during travel to remove deposits. 3. Discs revolve with a self-cleaning action to prevent fouling on body guides. 4. Wedging action is independent of seating action for easier operation. 5. Internal parts are interchangeable and reversible for easy maintenance.

Consider these possible disadvantages of the solid wedge gate design: 1. Wedge guides in body are subject to fouling and wear due to line content deposits. 2. Buildup on seat surfaces are trapped at seating position causing leakage. 3. Since wedging and seating occur simultaneously, approximately 50% more operating force is required than for

Revolving Discs design. 4. Wedge is not usually interchangeable from valve to valve. Reseating requires fitting of wedge to body seats.

On your next installation, get all the advantages. Specify American-Darling

Revolving Discs gate valves. For more information, write for our bulletin.

May 15, 1977 11