Page 3: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1988)

Bender Shipbuilding

Awarded Four

MarAd Drydockings

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair

Co., Inc. was recently awarded a contract for the drydocking, repairs and regulatory inspections of the

S.S. Gulf Merchant. This is the fourth such contract awarded to

Bender in four weeks by the Mari- time Administration (MarAd) in

Washington, D.C. Earlier contracts were for the S.S. Gulf Banker, S.S.

Gulf Trader, and the S.S. Gulf Ship- per. The vessels will be towed from the ready reserve fleet in Beaumont,

Texas, to Bender's facility in Mo- bile, Ala.

Bender is a full-service shipyard that has been in operation for 60 years. The company builds, converts and repairs vessels for commercial and government owners and opera- tors.

For free literature giving full in- formation on the facilities and capa- bilities of Bender Shipbuilding &

Repair Co.,

Circle 24 on Reader Service Card

Program For U.S. Shipyard

Revitalization Proposed

By Shipbuilders Council

A proposed commercial shipyard recovery plan was presented at the

Shipbuilders Council of America (SCA) board of directors meeting and Congressional seminar held re- cently in White Sulphur Springs,

W.Va., according to a recent article in Shipyard Weekly.

A joint industry, labor, and gov- ernment cooperative effort to make the U.S. commercial shipbuilding industry more competitive is the foundation of the program, which also aims to have modern, highly efficient shipyards in place that can capture 2-3 percent of the world market—the share required to sus- tain the domestic commercial ship- building base.

Since government subsidy pro- grams supporting U.S. shipbuilders were denied funding in 1981, the industry has had to compete against subsidized foreign shipyards. Thus, the U.S. market share for building commercial ships dwindled as a con- sequence, and capital investments required to bring about productivity improvements have not been made.

Design standardization as the key to maximizing productivity im- provements, with U.S. shipyards building a series of standard design ships for an interim assured market, is the main focus of the SCA pro- gram. Development of the standard design (or designs) would be driven by productivity considerations that would emphasize construction cost and schedule savings, as well as effi- ciency and economy of operations.

The U.S. Government would sponsor the temporary assured market of six to 10 ships, stimulat- ing shipyard investment, providing the opportunities for shipyards to apply improved productivity meth- odologies and training, and sustain- ing the U.S. shipbuilding industry while it is making the improvements necessary to become competitive.

Government-sponsored programs to create the temporary assured market include the following exam- ples: (1) Replacement ships for sea- lift tankers required by the Military

Sealift Command. (2) Sealift ships for mobilization acquired under a

Procure and Charter program. (3)

Ships ordered by U.S. federal agen- cies, such as the Coast Guard, Army,

National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration, and the National

Science Foundation. (4) Ships re- sulting from tighter enforcement of government-impelled cargo require- ments. (5) Jones Act replacement tonnage.

The SCA shipyard recovery pro- gram also includes the conduct of continuing research into productivi- ty improvements which would bene- fit not only the commercial sector, but the yards engaged in U.S. Navy construction as well. No new ship- building capacity would be created; rather, current capability would be stabilized. The program would thus result not only in enabling the U.S. to take its place among other high- technology shipbuilding nations, but also preserve the shipbuilding mobilization base required for na- tional defense.

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To find out more about what American

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American VULKAN Corporation

P.O. Drawer 673 • 2525 Dundee Road, Winter Haven, Florida 33882-0673

Telephone 813-324-2424 • Telex 522458

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November, 1988 5