Page 6: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (June 1993)

Volvo Penta Chosen To

Power Italian Coastguard

Vessels

The Italian Corpo delle

Capitanerie di Porto (Coastguard) has now taken delivery of six new rigid inflatable fast patrol boats, each of which is powered by a pair of

Volvo Penta TAMD 7 IB diesel en- gines. The engines are rated for

Special Light Duty use and each produces 380 hp at 2,600 rpm, drive being via a Hamilton 291 water jet, to give a top speed of more than 33 knots.

The boats are of the Dutch "Valentjin" type, a 35-foot long de- sign suitable for launching and re- covery over an open beach and in- corporating an aluminium hull with a surrounding inflatable rubber ring and a covered wheelhouse arrange- ment.

The design was produced by the

Willem de Vries Lentsch bureau in

Holland for the Dutch Lifeboat In- stitute, while the Italian versions have been built by Codecasa Due, of

Viareggio, which has acquired a li- cense for the design. The Dutch prototype, also Volvo Penta pow- ered, was completed in 1990 by

Damen Shipyards and was followed by a number of production examples, all similarly engined.

The six new Italian craft were delivered between the Autumn of 1992 and the Spring of 1993, and have already demonstrated excel- lent performance in service, proving fast and safe with good seakeeping qualities.

For more information on the Volvo

Penta diesel engines,

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MacGregor-Navire

Introduces Omega Seal For

Hatch Covers

One of MacGregor-Navire's lat- est developments is a pneumatically- actuated, simply-operated, retract- able sealing system for the trans- verse and longitudinal cross joints of lift away hatch covers enabling them to be lifted in any order. Pre- vious types of cross joint seals often involved the hatch cover panels be- ing lifted in a specific order, thus restricting the flexibility of cargo handling operations.

The new system, known as the

Omega Seal after the Greek letters its cross section resembles, is in- tended for fitting to newbuildings, but may also be retrofitted to cer- tain existing lift away hatch cover panels.

An increasing number of vessels, particularly containerships, are now being equipped with the Omega Seal which reportedly offers several ad- vantages when compared with the traditional method of mechanically tightening the seal system. To date, orders have been received for more than 120 joints on over 20 ships.

A feature of the Omega Seal is

June, 1993 8 that it employs no mechanical com- ponents but uses the natural elas- ticity of the rubber to provide the seal contact between the hatch cover panels. When the hatch covers are to be removed, compressed air is used to alter the profile of the seal, causing it to retract and enabling the panels to be lifted.

For more information regarding

MacGregor-Navire's Omega Seal,

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Legislation Hopes To

Compel Revitalization Of

Nation's Marine Business

Recently-passed legislation re- quires Secretary of Transportation

Federico Pena to draft a five-year plan for revitalizing the merchant marine business.

The bill will require the Adminis- tration to take a long-range view of the shipping industry's economic and industrial problems that some feel have been ignored.

Improvement of U.S. maritime capabilities will require a myriad of changes, including substantial com- mitment of resources from the gov- ernment, and Pena has been a staunch supporter of tough trade sanctions against massive govern- ment subsidies to foreign shipbuild- ing and ship repair facilities that may have contributed to the decline of the U.S. shipbuilding business.

SPECIAL

NOTICE

To create the first ever truly global marine seals and bearings organisation, John

Crane International, the world's largest manufacturer of engineered sealing systems, has acquired controlling interests in Dover Japan

Inc., Waukesha Bearing

Company Marine Seals in the USA and

Waukesha-Lips in

Holland.

These specialised companies have been linked with

John Crane's UK marine company,

Deep Sea Seals Ltd to offer an unrivalled product range and a skilled and dedicated tech- nical workforce employed throughout the world.

Long time leaders in their own right and now the major combined force in marine technology, it is clear to see why 50 of the world's navies and many leading ship owners, designers and builders put their trust in our unique quality and experience.

For further details contact your nearest

John Crane Marine International office. highly

Deep Sea Seals Limited 4 Marples Way, Havant, Hants

P09 1NX, UK. Tel 44 705 492123

Fax 44 705 492470 Telex 86122

Japan Marine Technologies Limited (Formerly Dover Japan Inc) 4th Floor Godo Building, 3-27 Kioi Cho

Chiyoda Ku, Tokyo 102, Japan.

Tel 81 3 3230 2211

Fax 81 3 3230 2210 Telex 2324593

John Crane Marine USA 1536 Barclay Blvd. Buffalo Grove

Illinois 60089, USA

Tel 1 708 808 9240 Fax 1 708 808 9295

John Crane Marine-Lips (Formerly Waukesha-Lips)

PO Box 176 5150 AD, Lipsstraat 52 5151 RP, Drunen, Netherlands.

Tel 31 4163 88299 Fax 31 4163 74853

Telex 35185

John Crane Marine International ===== Trusted Worldwide

A member of the Tl Group

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