Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 15, 1981)

Hudson Delivers The 'Gulf Dolphin7

To Gulf Fleet Marine

Gulf Fleet Marine Corporation, headquartered in New Orleans, has taken delivery of the Gulf

Dolphin (shown above), a 112- foot by 26-foot by 11-foot, 1,200- horsepower-class utility vessel built by Hudson Shipbuilders, Inc. (HUDSHIP) in Pascagoula, Miss.

The Gulf Dolphin represents the first of two utility vessels to be delivered to Gulf Fleet this year and the fourth of five such vessels HUDSHIP has delivered to Gulf Fleet in the past two years.

The vessel is powered by twin

GM 16V-92 diesel engines through

Twin Disc MG 520 5:1 gears and is capable of a maximum speed of 13 knots. Constructed with a clear deck area of 60 feet by 20 feet, she has a deck cargo capac- ity of 82 long tons. Her fuel tanks have a capacity of 20,735 U.S. gallons while she can carry 57,255

U.S. gallons of drill water and 4,470 U.S. gallons of potable wa- ter.

The Gulf Dolphin's air-condi- tioned pilothouse and crew quar- ters, as well as a full package of electronic and navigational equip- ment, make the vessel ideal for service in most locations.

Gulf Fleet Marine Corporation is one of the Houston Natural

Gas Corporation group of compa- nies, and provides a wide range of services to the offshore marine and construction industries.

A.E. Fiore Appointed Chief

Maritime Technical Advisor

For Republic Of Panama

Capt. Alfred E. Fiore

Capt. Alfred E. Fiore was re- cently appointed chief technical advisor for the Directorate of

Consular and Maritime Affairs,

Republic of Panama. His princi- pal involvements include the safe- ty inspections programs of Pan- amanian-fiag vessels worldwide, the investigation of ship casual- ties, liaison with IMCO, training programs in the maritime sphere, and other technical matters per- taining to Panama's maritime interests.

He was previously senior staff consultant with Ship Analytics, a maritime consultant and engi- neering firm based in Centerport,

N.Y., and in North Stonington,

Conn. Before that, as captain,

U.S. Maritime Service, he was head, Department of Nautical Sci- ence, at the United States Mer- chant Marine Academy, Kings

Point, N.Y.

GE Receives $10-Million

Order For Guided Missile

Frigate Control Systems

The General Electric Compa- ny's Simulation and Control Sys- tems Department in Daytona

Beach, Fla., has been awarded three contracts, totaling over $10 million, to furnish automated con- trol systems for six U.S. Navy

Guided Missile Frigates.

John Breyer, program general manager for digital control sys- tems at the GE facility, said that three of the systems will be de- livered to the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine, and the other three systems will be delivered to Todd Shipyards in Seattle,

Wash., and San Pedro, Calif.

MacGregor hoistable decks in the Skaugran, first RO/RO V6ssel built by Fredriks* stad m.V for Seaboard Company of Canada.

Third Seaboard RO/RO Ordered

At Fredriksstad Yard Will Have

MacGregor Hoistable Decks

Fredriksstad mek Verksted,

Norway, is to build another 42,000-dwt RO/RO ship for the carriage of forest products and cars on Seaboard's cross-Pacific trade. Like the first two vessels in the series, Skaugran and Skau- bord delivered from the same yard two years ago, more than two-thirds of its 4,000-car pay- load will be stowed on hoistable

MacGregor decks of the light- weight Omega construction.

The hoistable decks are a prin- cipal feature of the bold Seaboard concept, because in effect, they enable a vessel primarily designed for the carriage of packaged lum- ber and other wood products on the outward Vancouver-Japan voyage, to transport cars on the backhaul—and in quantities com- parable with those carried by a

PCC (Pure Car Carrier).

Some changes, based upon two years' operational experience with the first vessels, will be incorpo- rated in the newbuilding. They include alterations to the internal cargo handling and stowage lay- out involving a 25-percent in- crease in the installed area of hoistable MacGregor decking.

This will raise it from 19,350 cu- bic meters to 24,475 cubic meters —with a commensurate increase in total car capability—i.e., from the former 3,504 to 4,000.

The economic success of the Sea- board vessels — which, at 42,000 dwt makes them the world's big- gest RO/ROs — is due in large measure to their very high uti- lization carrying cars on the back- haul, and the hoistable decking contributes directly to that suc- cess. Thus its contribution to this third in the series will be even larger than it is with the earlier ships.

Key to the weight-saving prop- erties of the Omega design lies in the configuration of its load- bearing members which, in cross- section is akin to the Greek let- ter "Omega." It has now been specified for installation on some 15 vessels, and this repeat Sea- board order provides continuing proof of its success under opera- tional conditions.

The Seaboard Company is a prominent Canadian producer of forest products; its London com- pany will operate the new vessel under British registration.

The Seaboard RO/ROs have an overall length of about 598.7 feet, beam of 105.8 feet, depth of 84.6 feet, and draft of 39.4 feet. A 15,000-bhp diesel engine provides a service speed of 14.8 knots.

Bonacci Named Systems

Department Manager At

Engelhard Industries

Engelhard Industries, Union,

N.J., has named John C. Bonacci to the position of general man- ager, Systems Department. In this position, Dr. Bonacci will as- sume overall management respon- sibility for production, market- ing and sales, engineering and application technology for air and gas systems, sodium hypochlorite generators and cathodic protec- tion systems. In addition, he will be responsible for Exhaust Con- trols, Inc., a subsidiary of Engel- hard Industries.

Affiliated with Engelhard since 1975, Dr. Bonacci was manager of chemical engineering research prior to his present appointment. 18 Maritime Reporter/Engineering News