Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 15, 1980)

Kockums Christens Two Chemical

Tankers For Swedish Owner

Two of the world's largest and most advanced chemical tankers were christened recently by Kock- ums at its yard in Malmo, Swe- den. The twin 38,000-dwt vessels, called the Johnson Chemsun and

Johnson Chemstar, will be deliv- ered to Rederi AB Nordstjernan,

Stockholm, following sea trials.

The diesel-powered vessels were built with 28 large stainless-steel center tanks and double bottoms for ballast. Each ship contains a total of 38 separate tanks with self piping and pumping systems.

The two chemical tankers were the first ever built by Kockums and will be operated together with two new ships being built at

Bergens Mek. Verksted, Norway, for J.O. Odfjell A/S, Norway.

The sponsors for the christen- ing were Mrs. Frances Broman and Mrs. Christa Odfjell. Mrs.

Chemical tankers Johnson Chemsun and Johnson Chemstar were christened recently at Malmo yard of Kockums.

Broman is the daughter of Bo

Axel Johnson, managing director of Rederi AB Nordstjernan, and

Mrs. Odfjell is the wife of J.O.

Odfjell, chairman of the board,

J.O. Odfjell A/S, Bergen, Norway.

Skinner Named Board

Chairman Of National

Waterways Conference

James A. Skinner Jr.

James A. Skinner Jr. of Nash- ville, president of Herbert Mate- rials, Inc., has been installed as board chairman of the National

Waterways Conference. He was elected at the organization's re- cent annual meeting in Tulsa to succeed Lloyd E. Anderson, ex- ecutive director of the Port of

Portland (Ore.) Commission. Mr.

Skinner is also chairman of the

Brick Institute of America, and vice chairman of the Tennessee-

Tombigbee Waterway Develop- ment Authority.

His company, one of Tennes- see's largest brick manufacturers, operates river terminals on both the Tennessee and Cumberland

Rivers, including Herbert Marine

Terminal at Nashville. A subsidi- ary, T.L. Herbert & Sons, Inc., owns a fleet of barges and tow- boats plying the Cumberland, Ten- nessee, Ohio, and Upper Missis- sippi Rivers.

Robert S. Kerr Jr. of Oklahoma

City, president of Oklahoma Wa- ter, Inc., was reelected to another term as vice chairman of the

NWC, and Richard A. Wilson of

Sunset Hills, Mo., president of

Agri-Trans Corporation, was named to succeed Mr. Skinner as the Conference's first vice presi- dent.

Hudson Shipbuilders

To Construct Two 70-Foot Towboats

Wendle Huddleston, president of Hudson Shipbuilders, Inc. (HUDSHIP), recently announced that HUDSHIP will build two 70- foot towboats for a major Mis- sissippi River barge line.

The contracts for the two ves- sels were signed in September of this year in Pascagoula, Miss.

These contracts represent HUD-

SHIP's continued vessel diversi- fication into the inland towboat market.

These vessels are scheduled for delivery in February and March of 1981.

Surge In Requests For

ABS Classification

Reported At Mid-Year

The American Bureau of Ship- ping (ABS) received a "sizeable increase" in requests for the clas- sification of ships and other ma- rine structures during the first half of 1980, William N. Johnston, chairman and president, reported at the semiannual meeting of the

Board of Managers held in New

York City recently.

Mr. Johnston said that as of

July 1, there were 1,829 vessels on order to ABS classification in 42 countries, totaling 11,289,000 gross tons or 17,112,000 dead- weight tons. This is a 14-percent increase over mid-1979.

The chairman cited three fac- tors as contributing to the gain in requests for classification: shifting conditions in the oil mar- kets last year that have led to a rise in orders for crude oil and refined petroleum product carri- ers primarily of 100,000 and less deadweight tons; improvements in the coal, iron ore, and grain trades that have led to more or- ders for bulk carriers; and the expanded worldwide search for, and development of, offshore en- ergy sources, that have led to in- creased orders for offshore mobile drilling units.

Regarding ABS subsidiaries,

Mr. Johnston reported that ABS

Worldwide Technical Services,

Inc. is continuing to expand its third-party assurance, inspection, and certification services, partic- ularly in Brazil, Singapore, and

Venezuela. He said EXAM Com- pany, one of the major organiza- tions providing non-destructive testing services to the U.S. pipe- line industry, has been very busy during the first half of 1980. "This is due to the acquisition of equipment in 1979 that placed

EXAM in an excellent position to service the expanding activi- ties of the domestic energy dis- tribution industry." "otf.Nol-WTA FJYfhJSFJ^H 10 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News