Page 64: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1991)

AESA To Build

Car/Passenger Ferry

For Moroccan Owner

Moroccan shipowner Limadet (Lignes Maritimes du Detroit) has ordered a car/passenger ferry from

Spanish shipbuilder Astilleros Es- panoles, S.A. (AESA) for service be- tween Morocco and Spain across the

Strait of Gibraltar.

The ferry, which will be built by

H.J. Barreras, the Vigo-based yard of the AESA Group, will have ca- pacity to carry 1,300 passengers and 283 cars or 29 trucks.

The contract was signed by Fa- rid Dellero, chairman of Limadet, and Juan Saez, chairman of

AESA, at the shipbuilder's office in

Madrid.

Limadet has been planning to of- fer a wider range of services across the Strait of Gibraltar with a new ferry since 1986, as demand has been consistently increasing over the last few years.

Limadet placed its order with

AESA after evaluating offers from several shipyards. Talks between

Limadet and AESA have gone on for more than a year.

For free literature detailing the full shipbuilding and ship-repair services of AESA,

Circle 57 on Reader Service Card

World Shipyards

Capable Of Producing 'Only 40 VLCCs A Year'

According to a new Japanese sur- vey, the world shipbuilding industry is capable of producing only 40

VLCCs a year because of capacity restrictions, workforce ability, tech- nological standards and price com- petition.

Thirty-seven shipbuilding berths around the world capable of produc- ing in theory 70-110 VLCCs a year were identified by the Tokyo-based

Japan Maritime Research Institute (Jamri). "We can easily find out, howev- er," the survey noted, "that in real- ity they can construct only 40

VLCC-class tankers today when we take their workforces' ability, tech- nological standards and price com- petition into consideration."

Given present circumstances, construction of more than 30

VLCCs a year is undesirable, ac- cording to the survey. Shipowners are asked to place orders "in a disci- plined, orderly fashion without dis- rupting the supply-and-demand sit- uation of VLCCs in the world market."

The 37 berths identified by Jamri include docks measuring 57 meters (about 121 feet) in width, capable of building the new generation of "wide" VLCCs.

Drewry Study Concludes

Era Of Cheaply Acquired

And Run Ships Has Ended

In a recent study titled "Ship

Costs: Their Structure and Signifi- cance," by Drewry Shipping Consul- tants of London, Drewry argues that cost-cutting for shipowners has gone as far as it can go. As a result, "the outlook is for an end to cheaply acquired and cheaply run ships, as both the marketplace and environ- mental concerns exert potentially irresistible pressures."

Indirect costs have been pruned by flagging out to new registers, hir- ing third-world crews and increasing the use of automated equipment to cut down on crew numbers. Al- though operators are still focusing on cheap labor, the focus will soon have to turn to labor per se. Accord- ing to the report, "Staff shortages will increase the market muscle of the various manning agencies, and perhaps, create a new power base within the shipping industry. This, plus a need to cover the cost of training commitments, could fuel the pace of cost increases.

Transportation costs had already risen before the latest Persian Gulf crisis, predicting that repair and maintenance costs are likely to dou- ble by the year 2000. Insurance costs are also likely to rise as a result of higher repair and maintenance costs, pollution liabilities and in- creased hull values. Also, Bunker costs could increase by 50 percent over early 1990 levels.

Dixie Machine Appoints

Roussel New President

Dixie Machine Welding & Metal

Works, Inc., New Orleans, La., re- cently announced the appointment of Carl M. (Dick) Roussel as president. Mr. Roussel has been with the firm for 35 years in various capacities, most recently as execu- tive vice president. The announce- ment was made by chairman H.D.

Hughes, and E.T. Motter, vice president, Marine Division of Diver- sified Group Incorporated, parent company of Dixie Machine.

Global Maritime Fabricates

First Swirling Flow

Research Combustor

Global Maritime Services, Inc. (GMSI), Fort Lauderdale, Fla., a ship repair, machine shop, welding and fabrication facility, has com- pleted the fabrication and assembly of the first Swirling Flow Research

Combustor for Florida Atlantic Uni- versity.

This stainless steel combustor will determine the effects of swirling air flow on a combustion process such as fuel-air mixing, flame stabil- ity and the reduction of pollutant formation. The research results will help in the design of more efficient combustion devices such as fur- naces, gas turbines and ramjet en- gines.

The combustor will be used at the

Transport Phenomena Laboratory of the mechanical engineering de- partment at Florida Atlantic Uni- versity (FAU) in Boca Raton, Fla.

Dr. Davood Moslemian, assist- ant professor of mechanical engi- neering, will head the project and work along with Ceji Li, the grad- uate student who designed the com- bustor.

It took more than a year to design the combustor and four months to build it using type 316 stainless steel and various state-of-the-art certi- fied welding techniques. GMSI also supported FAU with the final as- sembly design methods which re- sulted in the efficient construction and testing procedures.

For more information on Global

Maritime's capabilities and serv- ices,

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