Page 73: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1992)

Ingalls Negotiating

For $200 Million+

Venezuelan Navy Work

Litton's Ingalls Shipbuilding di- vision, Pascagoula, Miss., has won a major international competition to refurbish and modernize the Ven- ezuelan Navy.

Ingalls was selected to begin ne- gotiating final terms of a contract to perform work on two Italian-built

Lupo Class 2,500-ton frigates. The negotiations will be completed this summer and are expected to result in a contract award to Ingalls with a value exceeding $200 million. "Winning this program in direct competition with major shipyards from other industrialized countries demonstrates that we are competi- tive on a global basis," said Jerry St.

Pe', senior vice president of Litton and president of Ingalls. "Our pro- ductivity and efficiency match that ofleading shipyards outside the U.S. "We also benefited from our long- standing ship design, engineering and integration experience for con- struction and overhaul of sophisti- cated U.S. Navy combat ships," said

Mr. St. Pe'.

Rates For Refined

Product Tankers Drop

Tanker rates for the carriage of refined oil products and chemicals have dipped recently, with rates on some commodities being 10 to 30 percent lower this year than last year.

According to Jakob Sorhus, ex- ecutive vice president of Odfjell

Tankers U.S.A., a subsidiary of Nor- wegian-owned Odfjell Tankers, small tanker rates have been slip- ping since the end of the Persian

Gulf war, particularly on volume shipments. However, the drop in product tanker rates has not been nearly as dramatic as that for crude oil and specialty shipment rates con- tinue to remain constant.

Kevin Hazel, a shipping econo- mist with the shipping market analy- sis firm Marsoft, said that the prod- uct market is generally more vola- tile than the crude market, as it tends to fluctuate as demand rises in the winter for heating oil and gasoline in the summer. Addition- ally, he added, when crude oil im- ports are down, oil companies have a tendency to refine it domestically rather than import refined products.

MarAd Shows U.S.-Flag

Shippers Appreciation

Warren G. Leback, the U.S.

Maritime Administrator, recently thanked fourteen exporters and im- porters for their support of the U.S.- flag for the majority of their ocean transportation needs.

Mr. Leback presented the fol- lowing shippers with maritime cer- tificates of appreciation during Na- tional Maritime Day observances:

AST Research, Inc., Irvine, Ca.; Bose

June, 1992 75

Corp., Framingham, Ma.; Dow In- ternational BV, Midland, Mi.;

Enesco Imports Corp., Elk Grove,

II.; Excel Corp., Wayzata, Mn.;

Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Ak- ron, Oh.; Hallmark Cards, Inc., Kan- sas City, Mo.; Harris Freeman &

Co., Inc., Anaheim, Ca.; Natural

Rubber Shippers Association, Wash- ington, D.C.; Norplex-Oak, Inc., (a subsidiary of Allied Signal), La

Crosse, Wi.; Uniden America Corp.,

Fort Worth, Tx.; Simpo Marketing

Systems, Inc., Washington, D.C.;

McCormack & Co., Baltimore, Md.; and A & A International, Fort Worth,

Tx. (a division of Tandy Corp.).

CG Proposes Vessel

Documentation User Fees

The Coast Guard recently pub- lished in the Federal Register pro- posed rulemaking in accordance with the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation

Act of 1990 to establish user fees for commercial vessel documentation activities and to revise existing user fees for recreational vessels.

The user fees will serve to recover current Coast Guard operating and overhead costs associated with ves- sel documentation and filing. The

Coast Guard said that it intends to review the fees annually.

Comments on the proposal are due on or about July 19. Additional information is available by calling (202) 267-1477.

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Houston (713)987-0771

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Aberdeen (0224) 643636

ASIA/PACIFIC

Australia (09)430-5900

Circle 342 on Reader Service Card