Page 78: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 1993)

Schiess-Defries Develops

New Transfer System

For Shipyards

In conjunction with its delivery and installation of a 3,800-ton ring hull-section transfer and launching system for Bremer Vulkan AG, of

Bremen, Germany, the engineering specialist Schiess-Defries GmbH, of

Dusseldorf, has developed a unique transfer concept.

Because air-cushion, water-cush- ion, walking or rail-borne systems were unable to satisfy the particular requirements of Bremer Vulkan's ap- plication, heavy loads will be trans- ferred through the shipyard on spe- cially coated slideways developed by

Schiess-Defries.

Loads of up to 4,000 metric tons will be carried by means of PTFE-pad equipped skids. These pads, for which the PTFE compound had been selected after extensive testing, will slide on coated steel plates, assisted by a lubri- cating film of special biological grease, along a total distance of approximately 1,247 feet.

The frictional index for this combi- nation of materials will be below five p.c. under the prevailing conditions.

The pulling or pushing processes will be effected synchronously by Schiess-

Defries hydraulic mover units.

Although the use of PTFE pads is widely known, the transfer system at

Bremer Vulkan will be the first in the world of that size to be installed into a permanent industrial production pro- cess and to operate under the si conditions of a shipyard environi

For more information about Scl

Defries and its new shipyard trai system,

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Commercial Insurers May

Provide Tanker Coverage

To End OPA90 Impasse

Despite Oil Pollution Act of IS requirements that all tanker opei tors provide certificates of financ responsibility showing that they pc sess the resources to clean up c spills, many tankers continue to ope ate in U.S. waters without complyii with the legislation.

Each side of the government/ii dustry equation is currently blamin the other for this, with the U.S. Coa:

Guard accusing insurers of blockin the financial responsibility prograr, and insurers blaming the law itsel for being unworkable. However, tht stand-off may soon be ended by ar unusual move by insurance broken to encourage commercial insurance underwriters to provide the neces- sary financial responsibility guaran- tees. According to the insurance brokers who are backing the plan, they will be much more selective about their clients than the P&I clubs have been, meaning that tanker operators with poor safety records or substan- dard ships could find coverage to be either unavailable or too expensive.

Coast Guard Concludes

Double-Hulls Best Tanker

Design Alternative

According to a Secretary of Trans- portation report presented to Con- gress on alternatives to double hull design, the double-hull tank vessel design offers unmatched protection against the risk of oil spills due to groundings, the most common form of casualty in U.S. waters.

Section 4115 of the Oil Pollution

Act of 1990 required the Secretary to determine whether other structural or operational requirements for tank vessels would provide protection to the marine environment equivalent to or greater than that provided by double hulls and to recommend to

Congress appropriate legislation. The

Secretary's study, conducted by the

U.S. Coast Guard, recommended no modifications to the double hull re- quirements of OPA 90.

The Coast Guard's findings were based on the Marine Board of the

National Academy of Sciences' 1991 study "Tanker Spills: Prevention by

Design," a comparative study on tank vessel design coordinated by the In- ternational Maritime Organization, and a research and development project conducted by Herbert Engineering

Corporation, which used computer modeling to study oil outflow from various tank vessel design when the hull sustains damage.

Maritime Reporter/Engineering News

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