Page 78: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 1998)

ed following takeover, in line with plans to reassert itself in the international market.

Building on longstanding strengths, reinvigo- rated CNF is also targeting the newbuild sec- tors covering high-specification tugs and multi- purpose supply vessels. Picking up the chal- lenge presented by the evolution of the global market, and demonstrating its propensity for cooperation, various collaborative agreements and joint ventures have been entered into with other industrial firms in specialised fields, including tug building.

The present contract with Fratelli Neri of

Livorno spanning five 88.5-ft. (27-m) firefight- ing tractor tugs is indicative of the company's policy of creating synergistic relationships, optimizing the resources of La Spezia's mar- itime cluster so as to provide a better offer of competitive services to the market. The first of the Neri tugs was handed over last December, and the program extends into 1999, applying a design rated for a 44-ton bollard-pull.

Particular significance in regard to both generic type and business source is also attached to a deal with the Maltese government for the construction of a multi-purpose tug equipped for firefighting, salvage and oil pollu- tion control duties. CNF perceives a growing market for oil pollution combatant vessels in the Mediterranean.

INMA — Stainless Hallmark

The recent completion at La Spezia of the 5,300-dwt chemical parcel tanker Stolt

Shearwater opened a new stage of investment in the Stolt-Nielsen Group's short-haul fleet, and gave fresh expression to INMA's standing in specialized tanker technology. As the first of a trio destined for the Stolt-Nielsen Inter

Europe Service (SNIES), the vessel is distin- guished by the adoption of a diesel-electric power and propulsion system, in a design shaped by the ever-more pressing requirements of shippers for quality, dependable transporta- tion at competitive cost.

The 5,500-cu.-m. capacity, all-stainless Stolt

Shearwater, set to be followed in September this year and January 1999 by Stolt Cormorant and Stolt Fulmar, respectively, draws on key concepts employed in the revolutionary 37,000- dwt Stolt Innovation class from Danyard.

The central power plant in the SNIES vessel, based on four main diesel-generators driven by

Wartsila 6L20 engines of 930-kW, feeds electri- cal energy to the 2,800-kW propulsion motor, bowthruster, cargo pumps and ship's services.

The engineering arrangements allow machin- ery to be run in an optimized and economical manner across the varied operating profile characteristic of a shortsea tanker, matching output with power needs at any one time.

Another important safety and environmental feature of the class is the prolongation of the double hull configuration beyond the cargo sec- tion in such a way as to protect the oil fuel tanks.

INMA, which is delineating a new strategy following this year's changes in senior manage- ment, is also committed to the outfitting of

Tirrenia's new pair of 23-knot conventional fer- ries, under a collaborative agreement with fel-. low La Spezia shipbuilding firm Cantiere

Navale Ferrari.

It is seeking further contracts to take the yard's workload beyond the first quarter of next year, with the range of possibilities including an extension of the Stolt series. Aside from the newbuilding activities which have come to assume a higher profile in recent years, INMA's prowess in demanding conversion and repair projects will undoubtedly leave it in good stand- ing for the future.

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