Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 15, 1981)

Second Occidental Tug/Barge Unit

Christened At Avondale Yard

Christening ceremonies were held recently at Avondale Ship- yards, Inc. for the integrated tug/ barge unit Oxy Producer (shown at right), a 41,500-dwt liquid chemical and petroleum tanker, which was built for a subsidiary of Occidental Petroleum Corpo- ration.

Mrs. Tazewell Shepard Jr., wife of Adm. Tazewell Shepard Jr., executive vice president of Occi- dental International Corporation, served as sponsor. Mrs. Shepard is the former Julia Ann Spark- man, daughter of Senator and

Mrs. John Sparkman of Alabama.

Other principals involved in the christening ceremony included:

Albert L. Bossier Jr., president of Avondale, who presided at the ceremony; Samuel Nemirow, as- sistant secretary of commerce for maritime affairs, who delivered the principal address; and Mrs.

Cynthia Shepard, matron of honor.

With its tug locked into the stern notch, the integrated unit has an overall length of 677 feet 4 inches, beam of 99 feet, and depth of 50 feet. Molded design draft is 36 feet, giving a displace- ment of 52,650 tons. Main pro- pulsion is by two Colt/Pielstick 14PC2-5V400 diesels manufac- tured by the Fairbanks Morse En- gine Division of Colt Industries.

Each engine has a maximum con- tinuous rating of 9,100 bhp at 520 rpm. These diesels are capa- ble of operating on heavy fuel oil for maximum economy. On sea trials at 85 percent mcr, the vessel achieved a speed of 15^ knots.

The Oxy Producer is designed to carry superphosphoric acid (SPA) and other liquid chemicals in five stainless steel tanks, and petroleum products in 10 wing tanks. She will embark on her maiden voyage in the latter part of June, joining her sister ship, the Oxy Trader, in their first shipment of SPA to Russia. These the CHANDLER'S

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EPIRBs Emergency Rations

Distress Signal Flares Flotation Devices iiiii eDAXREX!" 3770 N.w. So. River Dr., Miami, FL 33142 (305) 638-8220 Telex 519558 shipments will be made under one of several contracts between Oc- cidental and the Soviet Union.

Occidental, a natural resources company under the leadership of

Dr. Armand Hammer, chairman of the board and chief executive officer, is a major producer and distributor of agricultural chem- icals. The corporation and its sub- sidiaries are engaged in a diver- sified range of activities that support the world's effort to meet the increasing demand for food and fiber. Its chemical division is one of the largest, diversified chemical producers, providing in- dustry with raw materials, inter- mediate and finished chemical products, technology, and engi- neering.

Avondale Shipyards is a sub- sidiary of Ogden Corporation. Al- though principally a shipbuilder,

Avondale is a diversified company with facilities that include repair yards, a foundry, a special prod- ucts division, steel sales, and a facility at Bayou Black near the

Gulf that builds offshore drilling rigs.

Principal participants at the Oxy Producer christening were (L to R): The Most Rev erend James C. Carter, S.J., president, Loyola University; Albert L. Bossier Jr., presi- dent of Avondale Shipyards; Mrs. Tazewell Shepard Jr., sponsor; Adm. Tazewell Shep- ard Jr., executive vice president of Occidental International Corporation; Mrs. Cynthia

Shepard, matron of honor; and Samuel Nemirow, assistant secretary of commerce for maritime affairs.

Megasystems To Provide

Automation Package For

Southern-Built Dredge

Megasystems, Inc. of Cleveland and Boca Raton, Fla., will design and manufacture the complete automation of an oceangoing, split-hull, suction trailing hopper dredge to be built by Southern

Shipbuilding Corporation in Sli- dell, La. The instrumentation and control package will feature a distributed microprocessor archi- tecture, which will greatly re- duce shipyard cabling require- ments.

Each of the eight stipulated intercommunicating local units will feature LED displays and solid-state electronics. As a re- sult, the crew will have local read- outs in the pump rooms and en- gine rooms in addition to those in the central control room and pilothouse.

This is the second total auto- mation system built by Megasys- tems for Southern Shipbuilding.

The first was installed aboard the dredge Dodge Island, a similar vessel, launched last year. It fea- tured 10 intercommunicating units and a unique microproces- sor-based drag-tending console. 10 Write 104 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News