Page 26: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (December 1977)

Oceangoing Towing

Guidelines Issued By

Det Norske Veritas

Det norske Veritas has recently issued the publication "Guidelines and Requirements for Towing

Declarations." The increasing number of towing operations now taking place necessitates such guidelines, which are the first of their kind.

The publication lays down the requirements for the towed ob- ject, towing vessel, towing ar- rangement and equipment, and communications systems, which have to be met to obtain a towing declaration.

Traditionally, only a few com- panies have carried out ocean- going towing operations, and evaluations of the strength and equipment of towing vessels as well as towing arrangements, etc., have to a large extent been based on experience.

In recent years, towing activi- ties have expanded rapidly, espe- cially in connection with offshore installations, and the towing dis- tances have increased, while tow- ing vessels of today also differ from the traditional tugs in de- sign and towing capacity.

Furthermore, the towed objects are more varied than before in size and shape, and towing of such units as drilling rigs, plat- form foundations, pipelines and ship sections, as well as transpor- tation by lighter of large mod- ules and sections have become commonplace.

These towed objects represent large sums of money, so that both operators and insurance com- panies have a need for a thorough evaluation of the whole operation before the actual towing starts.

Det norske Veritas, through its section for Maritime Advisory

Services (MAS), disposes of the necessary maritime experience and know-how to carry out such an evaluation reliably.

By means of the new guide- lines, the owners and other in- terested parties will be informed in advance of the requirements, and based on these requirements be able to improve the planning and execution of the whole tow- ing operation.

Bird-Johnson Names

Darby Sales Engineer

For The Gulf Coast *

Jim Darby

In keeping with the growing demands of the offshore market,

Jim Darby has recently been ap- pointed sales engineer for Bird-

Johnson's Gulf Coast office lo- cated at 6430 Hillcroft, Houston,

Texas. This assignment repre- sents an expansion of the com- pany's regional resources. Mr.

Darby will work in conjunction with the Gulf Coast regional man- ager, Gary W. Dayton, to provide dual technical and sales support services on controllable-pitch pro- pellers and thrusters to all area marine customers.

Prior to joining Bird-Johnson,

Mr. Darby sailed as a third as- sistant engineer on a variety of steam and diesel vessels, having obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in marine engineering, and his third assistant engineer's li- cense from Texas A&M Univer- sity, College of Texas Maritime

Academy. Following this assign- ment, he was employed as a sales engineer for marine rotating equipment.

Mr. Darby is an associate mem- ber of The Society of Naval Ar- chitects and an associate member of the Houston Engineering &

Scientific Society.

Unequalled record of performance . . .

Pearlson Engineering is the ONLY company in the world devoted exclusively to the design and supply of shiplift systems. • There are 122 Syncrolifts in 54 countries. • 26 nations' navies use Syncrolifts. • More than 150,000 vessels have been docked and transferred by Syncrolifts throughout the world.

Syncrolifts are used for launching newly constructed vessels as well as for ship repair work.

SynCRQLIPT DRYDOCKS AND TRANSFER SYSTEMS

A Product of

PEARLSON ENGINEERING CO. INC.

Miami Office:

P.O. Box 560008, 8970 S.W. 87th Court

Miami, Florida 33156 U.S.A

Phone: 305/271-5721

Telex: 051-9340

Cable: SYNCROLIFT

London Office: 17 Devonshire St.

London W1N 1 FS, U.K.

Phone: 323-2855

Telex: 23717

A. DUBAI, UAE: Concrete caissons weigh- ing 4,000 tons launched on Syncrolift.®

Assembly line construction in transfer area.

B. LAS PALMAS, CANARY ISLANDS: 27,400 DWT vessel, Cobetas, 183 m. long being transferred to parking area from

Syncrolift.®

C. PUERTO CABELLO, VENEZUELA: 30,500 DWT vessel constructed in two sec- tions on land. Each is launched separately on Syncrolift® and the two sections are welded together in the water. 28 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News