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re fitted but an important differ- nce is the extensive fire-fighting apability provided by three Skum ire monitors, two for water and one or water/foam, fed by Hidrotecar mmps.

The wheelhouse is equipped with wo Racal Decca radars, Scan gyro- ompass, Robertson autopilot,

Marconi Seachart echosounder and shipmate GPS.

It is understood that a dozen or nore other leading European build- jrs tendered for the BP contract and ;hat price was the major factor in ;he Spanish yard winning the con- tact.

Such competitiveness, however, iid not affect quality — BP is re- ported to be exceptionally pleased with its new acquisitions and the

Lloyd's surveyors experienced few problems. Pedro Anduenza,

Balenciaga's commercial director, explained to Maritime Reporter that considerable sums have and are being invested in upgrading the pro- duction and quality control meth- ods and systems at the yard, which was established in 1921.

Meanwhile, back in Vigo, the re- nowned fishing boat builder,

Factorias Vulcano, has been busy with arguably one of the most un- usual enterprises of all, having se- cured the contract to build Cape

Grafton, a 244-ft. (74.4-m) lightstation tender vessel equipped to carry out a variety of construc- tion, scientific, diving, research and oceanographic functions.

With a considerable navaid con- struction program to undertake on the Great Barrier Reef, the Austra- lian Maritime Safety Authority re- quired a replacement for the aging

Cape Moreton and in 1992 began an extensive international search for a suitable bareboat charter, the ini- tial idea being that this would be the most economic way forward.

However, in the course of this exercise, the Authority received two unsolicited offers to purchase partly constructed bankrupt stock vessels.

Both were inspected and the fishing boat hull discovered at Factorias

Vulcano was considered ideal for the purpose.

A price was negotiated for com- pleting the vessel to the new re- quirements and the contract signed at under $15 million following as- surances from four major Austra- lian yards that they could not com- pete on either price or delivery.

The need for large reserves of electrical power to supply scientific and other equipment led to the in- stallation of an unusual propulsion system.

Three 930-kW Caterpillar diesel alternator sets, coupled to two 800- kW AC constant speed electric mo- tors drive the KaMeWa CP propel- ler inside a nozzle through Twin

Disc type MCD 3000-3-HD modu- lated clutches. Precise propeller control even at slow speeds com- bined with a triple bladed rudder aft of the nozzle and two KaMeWa trans- verse thrusters reportedly ensure high maneuverability. Fully laden, the vessel can achieve 12 knots with a range of 14,000 miles.

Cape Grafton is equipped with chemical, geological and photo- graphic laboratories, deep sea sam- pling equipment, buoy recovery and repair facilities and a fully compre- hensive complement of navigational electronics — mostly from the

Furuno stable.

Air conditioned accommodation is provided for 47 persons, mainly in two berth cabins with individual washrooms, although the vessel's standard crew is 16 in number.

Factorias Vulcano fully emphazises its quality credentials, boasting an ISO 9001 quality assur- ance standard certificate and de- tails of a three-year modernization plan currently taking place at the 75-year-old yard.

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