Page 9: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1994)

Avondale, AESA In Tech

Exchange Pact

Avondale Industries, Inc. and

Astilleros Espanoles SA (AESA) have entered into a cooperative agreement to exchange commercial ship designs, market analysis and ship production technology.

Albert L. Bossier, Jr., Avon- dale's chairman and CEO, said the agreement was a significant step toward Avondale's goal of acquiring commercial shipbuilding contracts, saying AESA will be a source of competitive commercial ship designs and efficient shipbuilding technol- ogy. Juan Taus Rubio, senior vice president for AESA, said his com- pany had embarked on a similar operation to improve efficiency and competitiveness six years ago, re- sulting in a dramatic improvement in production costs, and he hoped

Avondale would realize the same benefits.

For more information on

Avondale,

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For more information on

Astilleros Espanoles,

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Rockwell Wins $10.5 Million

Navy SATCOM Contract

Rockwell has received a $10.5 million award to provide in-service engineering to support the U.S.

Navy's Super High Frequency (SHF)

Satellite Communication (SAT-

COM) systems. The five-year, cost- plus-fixed-fee contract was awarded to Rockwell subsidiary Collins In- ternational Service Co. (CISCO), by the Navy Regional Contracting Cen- ter (NRCC), San Diego.

Rockwell engineers will install and maintain specific components and subsystems that comprise the

SHF SATCOM systems. The con- tract includes Inspect and Repair as

Necessary (IRAN) of the systems.

This work will be conducted by

Rockwell subcontractor Eldyne, Inc.,

San Diego. For more information on Rockwell,

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Keppel Units Win $38.6

Million Rig Conversion Deal

Two companies in the Keppel

Group, Keppel Shipyard and Far

East Levingston Shipbuilding (FELS), have jointly secured a con- tract to repair and convert a semi- submersible drilling rig, theLiuhua-

FPS, to a floating production sys- tem.

FELS will reportedly handle the major portion of the contract, awarded by Reading & Bates Devel- opment Company. Completion and delivery is expected in April 1995.

Evergreen To Buy Five

Containerships From MHI

Evergreen Group has reached an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy

Industries (MHI) to purchase five 4,900-TEU containerships. A firm contract will reportedly be signed later this year, and delivery of the first vessel is expected in early 1996.

The addition of the vessels will increase Evergreen's fleet to 80 ves- sels with total capacity of 180,000-

TEUs. The new vessels will operate between the Far East and the U.S.

Global Ocean Carriers

Names Bahu Chairman

Global Ocean Carriers Ltd. has named Nabil Bahu chairman. Mr.

Bahu replacesAlan Kennedy, who will remain a director. Another director, James Davis, has been named deputy chairman, replacing

Mr. Bahu.

Stolt Partner Names Olssen

New Chairman

Stolt Partner appointedChrister

Olssen, president of Wallenius

Lines, to replace Jacob Stolt-

Nielsen, Jr. as chairman. Mr. Ol- ssen has been on the board since 1990 and a director of Stolt-Nielsen

SA since 1993. The board decided

Stolt Partner should have an inde- pendent chairman, as the majority of shareholders are not affiliated with Stolt Parcel Tankers Inc., which owns 44 percent of the shares. Mr.

Stolt-Nielsen will continue to serve as a member of the board.

Pena Announces Vessel Design

Compliance Initiatives

Secretary of Transportation

Federico Pena announced several initiatives designed to enhance maritime policy reform and has di- rected the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) to execute a four-point program to that end. This is the third element of the administration's shipbuild- ing initiative and its proposed mari- time security program. The initia- tives involve vessel design compli- ance programs and eliminating unnecessary regulations which im- pede U.S. shipbuilding and operat- ing competitiveness.

Secretary Pena said that the initiatives would in no way jeopar- dize the safety of passengers, crew or the environment. "These critical safety and environmental goals can be achieved while opening new av- enues for U.S. ship builders and ship operators to compete on a glo- bal scale," he said.

The four-point program would include: • Establi company that instituted a rigorous shing compliance op- tions so that a shipbuilder or owner can rely on classification society standards, rather than specific

USCG regulatory requirements. • Accepting regulatory compli- ance verification by qualified, re- sponsible classification societies and not only from the American Bureau of Shipping which, being the official classification society of the U.S. gov- ernment, inspects U.S. vessels us- ing USCG construction require- ments. • Establishing a model company program whereby the vessels of a be inspected less frequently by the

USCG. • Establishing a USCG Oversight

Program to verify the quality man- agement program of participating shipping companies and classifica- tion societies.

Provisions are also included to accept certain items of equipment that have been approved by other governments that have approval systems equivalent to the U.S.'s. "The goal is to make the Coast Guard regulatory requirements less bur- densome, more efficient and effec- tive for the U.S. maritime industry,"

Secretary Pena said.

Provisions will be initiated using a voluntary program developed by the USCG in cooperation with the maritime industry. A pilot program begins this month to evaluate the alternative compliance. Volunteers are being solicited for the program and six companies have indicated interest in participating using ships whose Certificates of Inspection are soon to expire.

Secretary Pena urged the ship- building and ship operating commu- nities to familiarize themselves with the initiatives and determine how they may enhance their business plans. "These initiatives, taken to- gether with the administration's other maritime reform initiatives, are important steps toward achiev- ing our goal of an internationally competitive U.S. maritime indus- try," he said.

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July, 1994 11