Page 51: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (November 1999)

Gulf of Mexico bad shape; it needed everything." Francis added: "We had to repower the yard, run new electric. New plumbing was installed. Then, we set to work on upgrading the shipyard capabilities. We increased the crane capacity, overhauled the dry docks ? there was a lot of remodeling. We enlarged and length-ened some piers. We dredged." "Now, we have a yard where the longest pier is 1,125 ft. (342.9 m), with a 40 ft. (12.1 m) water depth. The yard can do topside work and small ship dry-dock repair," Francis says. "We're acquiring a Panamax-sized drydock, and once that's in place, we'll be able to accommodate 85 percent of all the ships transiting the Gulf of Mexico." Repairs are sure to become an even more integral part of Newpark's focus. As Francis points out, OSV construction has slowed, in response to the struggling oil price, "but that market always changes," he says. "It's down now, it'll be back up again." Instead, Francis is eyeing the tank barge conversions, mandated by OPA 90, as one of the major projects the com-pany is planning and preparing for. "The tank barge conversions have a deadline, as set forth in OPA 90," says Francis. "We haven't seen a lot of that work yet, so we're guessing between now and the deadlines, we'll start to see progressively more of it and we're cer-tainly making it a priority to pursue that work." Additionally, as ship traffic in major ports increases, so does the demand for ship repair. Francis says the company is fully aware of the increasing traffic, and is developing its ship repair facilities to match that expected increased demand. Short-term, Francis says the slumping oil price will only continue to foster an environment prone to consolidation. On a longer-term level, obviously, the oil price will rebound, especially, Francis says, on the deepwater side. He also points to a growing industry trend towards replacing coastal freighters with ITBs, which certainly bodes well for the company. Matters of concern to Newpark are the continuing environmental pressures, as well as gov-ernment regulations ? especially the debates surrounding the Jones Act, and the contested and proposed reforms, called for yearly by lobbying groups, he says. Overcoming Obstacles "The biggest obstacle we've faced so far, from a corporate viewpoint, is inte-grating the six yards into one," says Francis. "Our corporate business sys-tems are shared by all the yards. We think of the yards as a shipyard network, November, 1999 and integrating those has been a huge challenge. We're building our computer networks, and finalizing the integration, but, really, you never quite finish when you're improving efficiency." The computer network encompasses the yards, the accounting systems, the reporting systems and the entire man-agement organization. Grady Walker, executive vice presi-dent of the inland division, echoes Fran-cis' sentiments. "We went from one to six yards in the past 18 months. Until the cultural evolution of merging the six different yards into one is completed, there's always a challenge. "Now, with the six different yards, each with its own area of expertise, we're able to package our services. We can offer 'one-stop shopping.' For exam-ple, when we acquired the John Blud-YOU CANT What you can't see could be bad for your business. And for ours. There may be new submarine cables in the area where you are working. AT&T would like you to have free cable charts showing where they are located. And take the mystery out of avoiding them. Please consider my AT&T chart request. Company Address City Zip Phone ( Vessel Name Doc # Type of Business MR ? 12200 Cape May to Cape Hatteras ? 12300 Approaches to New York ? 12318 Little Egg Inlet to Hereford Inlet ? 12323 Sea Girt to Little Egg Inlet D 12353 Shinnecock Light to Fire Island Light D 13205 Block Island Sound and Approaches ? 13218 Marthas Vineyard to Block Island D 18007 San Francisco to Cape Flattery D 18020 San Diego to Cape Mendocino D 18480 Approaches to Straits of Juan de Fuca ? 18580 Cape Blanco to Yaquina Head D 18620 Point Arena to Trinidad Head D 18640 San Francisco to Point Arena O 18700 Point Conception to Point Sur D 26320 Florida and the Bahama Islands D 11460 Cape Canaveral to Key West Mail coupon to: AT&T Submarine Cable Protection 340 Mt. Kemble Ave., Room S200 Morristown, NJ 07960, USA Or call us toll-free: , 1-800-235-CHARTS gfe Chart requests subject to availability and are considered on a case-by-case basis. Don't risk engine security, maintenance economy and proven peace of mind: Specify CHOCKFAST ORANGE. ORANGE is the chocking compound ap-proved by every major classifi-cation society, including ABS /7wPhiladelphia Resins Commerce Drive, Montgomeryville, PA 18936 Tel 215.855.8450 Fax 215.855.4688 Circle 274 on Reader Service Card A LONG EXPERIENCE IN STIFF BOOM - TELESCOPIC BOOM - KNUCKLEBOOM -HEAVY DUTY CRANES ^ FROM 2,5 TO 250 TM J\ THE WIDEST RANGE OF MARINE CRANES WORLDWIDE SALES & FOR INFORMATION CALL US NOW SERVICE NETWORK Ph. +39 51 700179 - Fax +39 51 6325115 EFFER S.p.A, Marine Division - Via Bonazzi 12/14 - 40013 Castelmaggiore (BO) - ITJ .{SoooO}, Circle 240 on Reader Service Card