Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1998)

WORKBOAT ANNUAL ments of the Oil Pollution Act of 1990. It has also seen a number of

Crowley's older tugs and barges modernized. To date, three of

Crowley's Robin class tugs and three 400 x 100 ft. barges have been refurbished, and about 50 percent of the firm's 730 series barge fleet has been rebuilt.

The Sea Robins were originally built around twin Alco V-12 turbo 251Es generating 4,860 hp but these have been traded in for

Caterpillar 3606Bs generating 5,000 hp. In recent months, the first of 17 Invader class tugs tar- geted for life extension began the process. According to Dave Kiraly,

Crowley's senior port engineer in charge of the refurbishment pro- ject, each of the twin-screw, triple-

Marine s » J md tufMi

Pack your stern tube with grease-free GFO fiber packing and forget about it until the next scheduled haulout. Here's a proven long-lasting high-tech marine packing that's virtually maintenance free and hardly ever drips. It runs cooler than flax, and never gets hard or abrasive, so shaft damage is a thing of the past. Put an end to your packing problems, and start experiencing cost savings today.

Call 800-455-2791 for more information or to order GFO fiber marine packing.

GFO and the marine service packing logo are trademarks of

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. "1998 W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.

Sealant Technologies Group

P.O. Box 1010, Elkton, MD 21922

Fax 410-392-4817

MUAI

Circle 361 on Reader Service Card

FlBerger

Smith Berger Marine, Inc. / The leader in deck hardware for over 60 years.

Fairleads and Deck Sheaves are IN STOCK at the following locations:

PACIFIC

NORTHWEST

CALIFORNIA and TEXAS

GULF

COAST

Rasmussen Equipment Co. - Seattle, WA 1 -800-227-7920 FAX 1 -206-762-5003

Waterman Supply Co., Inc. - Wilmington, CA 1-800-322-3131 FAX 1-310-522-1043

Rasmussen Equipment Co. - Belle Chasse, LA 1 -504-392-0442 FAX 1 -504-392-0107

Call for competitive prices and immediate delivery on Smith Berger

Fairleads and Deck Sheaves. Also call for: • Pedestal Roller Fairleads • Four Roller Fairleads • Flag Blocks • Chain Stoppers • Towing Pins Stern Rollers • Custom-engineered equipment to your specifications

Smith Berger Marine, Inc. 516 S. Chicago Street Seattle, WA 98108 1-888-726-1688 206-764-4650 FAX 206-764-4653

E-mail: [email protected] BALANCED HEAD FAIRLEADS MODELS MD-610, MC-622 AND MD-665 rudder tugs will take about four months to overhaul, with the EMD 20-645-E5 main engines getting a complete tear-down and rebuild. "Rebuilding the engines is key to refurbishment because it increases the tugs' reliability by starting the vessel off with zero hours again," said Kiraly. "This means marked improvement in the overall operational perfor- mance of each vessel."

The Invaders, all built between 1974 and 1977, have proven to be a strong and reliable design for

Crowley's line haul and contract towing business while the smaller

Sea Robins, also of mid-1970s vin- tage, have proven useful in situa- tions demanding less horsepower.

One business Crowley has stepped out of is the passenger trade, and ironically it was the ferrying pas- sengers between ships and shore that got Crowley its start on San

Francisco Bay over a century ago.

However, with a new course set,

Crowley decided that the passen- ger trade no longer fit in with it's other businesses.

Nevertheless, the overall

Crowley operation remains sub- stantial. Crowley Maritime

Corporation, still primarily family and employee-owned, now has more than 100 offices in major ports and cities around the globe.

From its Oakland headquarters it oversees four primary operating subsidiaries: Crowley Marine

Services (CMS) and Vessel

Management Services (VMS), both based in Seattle; Crowley

American Transport (CAT), head- quartered in Jacksonville; and

Crowley Petroleum Transport (CPT), based in Long Beach.

Together, these firms employ more than 5,000 people worldwide, oper- ate more than 200 vessels and gen- erate annual revenues in excess of $1.1 billion.

Although consolidation is cur- rently sweeping the deep-sea trades, and even beginning to make serious inroads into the U.S. tug industry, Tom Crowley Jr. doesn't feel Crowley will be a part of it. "We see no reason to merge with other companies," he said. "We want to be a profitable, low-cost regional operator," - a course that has brought Crowley Maritime to where it is today, and one Tom

Crowley Jr. feels will see it well into the 21st century. 62 Circle 333 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News