Page 25: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (February 1992)

The new class supply vessel Mr. Vick, from Trinity Marine. dale Boat Division, which delivered two 168-foot Viking 2000 Class river towboats in 1991, one for Stokes

Towing and one for B&H Towing, expects to receive an order for three tugboats and two river towboats during the first quarter of this year.

The firm is currently constructing a 168-foot Viking2000 Class river tow- boat and a 110-foot ocean tugboat for E.N. Bisso.

Lacombe, La., builder Balehi Ma- rine delivered three towboats dur- ing 1991, the 1,800-hp Choctaw, the 700-hp Jeanne James, and the 700- hp Sally James. The firm also per- formed two towboat restorations and a number of various repair projects.

On order at the yard are two 42-foot by 15-foot by 7-foot 6-inch dredge tender tugs, the C.F. Bean and Jen- nifer Bean, and a restoration of the towboat John-Tee.

SeaArk Marine, Inc., delivered more than 80 workboats to various commercial and government custom- ers during 1991. The Monticello boatbuilder, which constructs alu- minum workboats ranging in size from 17 to 50 feet, has several pro- jects underway for 1992. Cautiously optimistic for their prospects for the new year, SeaArk Marine is already building a 30-foot fireboat for Tampa,

Fla., several boats for the Army

Corps of Engineers including a 36- foot survey boat, two 30-footers for oil spill response for Mobil Oil Corp., two boats for the U.S. Fish & Wild- life Agency and several boats for the

Panama Canal Commission.

Multimillion Dollar

Market For Casino Boats

Legalized riverboat gaming in parts of Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana and

Mississippi has created an annual multimillion-dollar market for many

Gulf Coast builders and suppliers.

Service Marine Industries, Inc., (SMI) of Morgan City, La., expects a number of dinner and casino boat construction opportunities in the coming year, and is anticipating landing a number of new orders.

The yard is currently building a new Spirit of Norfolk, a 187- by 40- foot dinner boat for Spirit Cruises.

During 1991, the yard completed the 800-passenger, 175-foot dinner boat Odyssey for Premier Yachts of

Chicago, 111.

Conversion of a 176-foot oilfield supply vessel to a North Pacific crab catcher vessel was also completed, which included the repowering of the vessel with a new Caterpillar 3508 main engine, as well as a new 150-kw Caterpillar generator unit.

Additionally, the ex-M/V Hawai- ian Command and M/V Polynesian

Command have recently been out- fitted and delivered to Sociedad Pes- queraColosoS.A. of Santiago, Chile, for service in the South American

Pacific fishing industry.

During the year, Service Marine was active in USCG andABS drydock inspections/repairs of oilfield-based supply vessels and tugs, including the reconstruction of a 75-foot, 1,200- hp tug owned by Basin Marine of

Morgan City.

Patti Shipyards, Pensacola, Fla., which last year delivered the 2,000- passenger gaming vessel Dubuque

Casino Belle and converted the Mis- sissippi Belle II to a gambling boat, is building a 450-foot, 3,000-passen- ger gambling excursion vessel for the same owners, Bob and Ruth

Kehl of Dubuque, Iowa.

During 1991, Patti also built two 65-foot dredge attendant vessels, the anchor tenders Ward and Lusk, for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The drift collector Reynolds, a 60- by 22-foot harbor maintenance ves- sel, is presently under construction at the yard for the CoE.

Frank Patti, the owner of Patti

Shipyard, Inc., said that the large excursion market and Government contracts were the most profitable for his yard in 1991, both of which have been a mainstay for the Florida builder for the last five years. Mr.

Patti expects the company's cur- rent contracts to sustain production into early 1993.

The J acksonville, Fla., yard of At- lantic Marine, Inc. which delivered three paddlewheel casino/dinner vessels during 1991, was awarded yet another gambling boat contract. (continued on page 26)

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February, 1992 25