Page 14: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (March 1996)

QmcpDfe ©©fepg l©v@[fDiji}fl ©©stey^o3

Ingalls Aegis guided missile destroyers

Benfold (foreground) and USS Stethem.

Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Miss., has delivered its seventh Aegis guided missile destroyer, Benfold (DDG 65). During its pre- delivery sea trials, DDG 65 rendezvoused in the

Gulf of Mexico with Ingalls' sixth Aegis destroy- er, USS Stethem (DDG 63), as that ship sailed for its October 1995 commissioning site in Port

Hueneme, Calif. Benfold will be commissioned for U.S. Pacific Fleet duty on March 30, 1996, in its homeport of San Diego, Calif. USS Stethem is also homeported in San Diego.

In addition, Ingalls, a division of Litton

Industries, has been awarded contracts to build 14 of the 32 ships authorized thus far in the

Aegis destroyer program.

For more information on Ingalls

Circle 18 on Reader Service Card

Prater Wwm GJNKd Isrmfey Comtek

Mitsui LNG carrier to be supplied with Unitor's

Thermal Insulation System.

Unitor, a Norwegian international ship sup- ply specialist, has strengthened its position in the liquefied natural gas carrier (LNG) market by securing a contract to supply the thermal insulation system for a newbuilding in Japan.

This contract, valued at approximately $9.5 million, covers the turnkey delivery of Unitor's patented SG (spiral generated) thermal insula- tion system, including project management to

Hull No. 1432, building at the Chiba works of

Japan's Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co.

Hull No. 1432 is a 135,000-sq.-m LNG carrier, under construction for Qatar Liquefied Gas.

Thermal insulation work on this vessel's five spherical tanks will start in mid-1997, and is expected to take eight to nine months to com- plete. This is the second such contract Unitor has secured with Mitsui as of late, and the fourth such project which the Norwegian com- pany has won recently in the LNG carrier mar- ket.

The other three contracts comprise thermal insulation of a 125,000-sq.-m, four-sphere tank

LNG carrier building at Korea's Hyundai

Heavy Industries (Hull No. 853), and thermal insulation of two 135,000-sq.-m, five-sphere tank LNG buildings at Mitsui's Chiba Works (Hull Nos. 1411 and 1412). Total contract value for the four turnkey projects is approximately $37.8 million.

Unitor's Marine Contracting activity has 18 marine insulation specialists located in Japan,

Korea and Norway. The company has reported- ly secured contracts to supply thermal insula- tion systems for 21 LNG carriers to date.

For more information on Unitor

Circle 20 on Reader Service Card

AoHlKiFteljQ ^d]DflMlfy ©QUR* MigM'

TCqdro] CCmigdd® §0D©©&

The American Admiralty Bureau has released its third change sheet for its Lawyer's Guide to the Navigational Rules (ISBN 1-879778-17-3, published by Marine Education Textbooks,

Houma, La.). Change sheet three replaces the previous change sheets, eliminating the need to retain any prior sheets. Change sheets are available free of charge to those who already own the book, in exchange for a self-addressed stamped envelope sent to: American Admiralty

Bureau, 4441 Utica St., Metairie, LA 70006.

The latest change sheet is included with all new books sold. A companion volume on the legisla- tive history of the navigational rules is sched- uled to be released later this year.

For more information

Circle 38 on Reader Service Card

BOATRACS Looks To Europe

For Expansion

BOATRACS, Inc. signed a mem- orandum of understanding with

Alcatel QUALCOMM, which is a joint venture company between the

Alcatel Group and QUALCOMM, and a QUALCOMM licensee for

OmniTRACS in Europe.

This memorandum contem- plates BOATRACS operating in

Europe under a basis similar to that under which it operates in the

U.S.: providing maritime satellite- based communications and track- ing of vessels. "This is a very significant step forward for BOATRACS," said

Michael Silverman, chairman and CEO. "The European work- boat and fishing boat markets are estimated to be worth substantial- ly greater than those of the U.S."

BOATRACS, based in San

Diego, is the distributor in the U.S. marine market of the OmniTRACS

Systems, a satellite-based commu- nications and tracking system developed and manufactured by

QUALCOMM Inc. The system pro- vides two-way communications between vessels at sea and base stations on land, or with other ves- sels. It also allows for real-time tracking and monitoring. BOA-

TRACS currently has systems on vessels operating on both coasts, the Gulf of Mexico and in Canada.

In addition, BOATRACS has Let- ters of Understanding with QUAL-

COMM distributors in Mexico and

Europe.

Twin Disc To Moke And

Market Doen Waterjets

Twin Disc, Inc. signed a licens- ing agreement with Doen Marine

Pty., Ltd. of Melbourne, Australia to manufacture and market Doen's line of axial flow waterjets. The agreement provides for global mar- keting, with the only exception being the Pacific Rim.

The waterjets will be manufac- tured in Twin Disc's Racine, Wis. facilities and are complementary to the current marine product line consisting of marine transmis- sions, Arneson Surface Drives and

Power Commander marine elec- tronic propulsion control systems.

The Doen waterjet is transom mounted and readily installed in existing hull configurations with- out the necessity of cutting the hull at a critical point of flotation.

This guarantees the hull's integri- ty in the event of grounding. The modular design simplifies manu- facture and in-water repairs avoid- ing costly slipping or drydock.

There are currently 16 models in the line.

For more information on Twin Disc

Circle 93 on Reader Service Card

RCCL Records Rise In Income

Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCCL) reported net income of $149 million for the year ended

December 31, 1995, up from $136.6 million in 1994. These results include a gain of $19.2 million from the sale of Nordic Prince in 1995.

Revenues increased to $1.18 bil- lion from $1.17 billion as a result of a one percent increase in capacity due to the introduction of the 1,800-passenger Legend of the Seas in the second quarter. Revenue per available berth remained consis- tent with 1994. "I'm pleased that our yields re- mained consistent with the excep- tionally strong performance in 1994 despite the many challenges our industry faced last year princi- pally due to pricing pressure from an increased level of discounting among our competitors," said

Richard D. Fain, Royal Carib- bean's chairman and CEO.

Between 1996 and 1998, RCCL plans to introduce five new ships with a total additional capacity of 9,700 passengers. Two ships will enter service this year (the 1,800- passenger Splendour of the Seas in

March and the 1,950-passenger

Grandeur of the Seas in December 1996), followed by two ships in 1997 (the 2,000-passenger Rhap- sody of the Seas in April and the 1,950-passenger Enchantment of the Seas in September) and one ship in 1998 (the 2,000-passenger

Vision of the Seas in April).

Texaco, Leviathan Form

Pipeline Joint Venture

Texaco Inc. and Leviathan Gas

Pipeline Partners, L.P formed the

Poseidon Oil Pipeline Company

L.L.C., a 50/50 joint-venture com- pany which will construct, own and operate the Poseidon pipeline.

Poseidon — the first phase of which will be available for use by area producers this month — is designed to service new deepwater and subsalt Central Gulf of Mexico production. To be operated by Tex- aco, Poseidon will be located in the central Gulf of Mexico and connect to the company's extensive onshore pipeline system at Houma, La.

Leviathan began the construc- tion of the initial phase of Poseidon in August 1995. That phase runs from Garden Banks Block 72 for approximately 117 miles along the edge of the Outer Continental

Shelf to Leviathan's platform at

Ship Shoal Block 332 before head- ing to shore at Caillou Island, La.

Ultimately, Poseidon will consist of approximately 200 miles of 16- to 24-in. diameter pipeline capable of delivering up to 400,000 barrels per day of sour crude oil production to multiple market outlets in on- shore Louisiana. The pipeline is unique in its position to service deepwater and subsalt discoveries along this route and will extend the pipeline infrastructure into these important new development areas. 18 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News