Page 22: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 2001)

News

Adsteam To Buy Howard Smith

Australia's Adsteam Marine Ltd. agreed to buy Howard Smith Ltd.'s Aus- tralian and U.K. towage businesses for $248 million. Adsteam plans to use a $163 million bank debt facility from

National Australia Bank Ltd. to finance the deal which includes the remaining 50 percent of its Australian towage joint ventures with Howard Smith as well as

Howard Smith's wholly-owned Aus- tralian and U.K. towage businesses. It also plans to undertake an equity raising of A$180 million, underwritten by ABN

AMRO Rothschild and UBS Warburg.

Prior to the acquisition of Howard

Smith. Adsteam Marine was the largest operator of marine towage services in

Australia with extensive other marine services operations in this country and overseas. The company has a history of providing marine services dating back to 1875. when it commenced operations as the former The Adelaide Steamship

Company Limited group. Of the 51 ports requiring towage in Australia,

Adsteam Marine has a towage presence in 33 ports and internationally has a fleet of more than 90 tugs either wholly owned or in partnership and joint ven- ture operations. Its global maritime ser- vices operations were substantially expanded in 2000 through acquiring a 50 percent interest in U.S.-based North- land Holdings — the largest expansion- ary move by Adsteam Marine since its $160 million public float in 1997.

Northland later acquired the Bethel Fuel

Sales Alaska-based fuel distribution business for $26.5 million.

GSA Auctions "Perfect Storm"

Rescue Vessel

A former U.S. Coast Guard cutter whose heroic rescues garnered notice in the movie. The Perfect Storm, made its debut on the U.S. General Services

Administration auction Web site, GSA

Auctions, http://www.gsaauctions.gov, after spending more than six months without a permanent home. Reported to the U.S. General Services Administra- tion as excess by the U.S. Coast Guard in January 1994. the decommissioned

Tamaroa was initially housed at New

York's Intrepid Sea Air Museum until 1997. It was later housed at the Hudson

River Park Conservancy until 2000.

Tamaroa was originally the U.S. Navy commissioned vessel USS Zuni, a 205- ft. (62.4 m) salvage tug, which saw duty during World War II at Pearl Harbor and

Iwo Jima and participated briefly in the

Allied assault on Tinian.

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With Gladding-Hearn

Old Dominion University's Education- al Foundation has ordered a new research vessel from Gladding-Hearn

Shipbuilding. The vessel, which will be designed by Roger Long Marine Archi- tecture. has a modified-V aluminum hull, which measures 55 ft. (16.7 m) with a 17 ft. (5.1 m) beam. Its five ft. (1.5 m) draft allows the vessel to per- form work in the shallow water near the shores of the Virginia coastline. Pro- pelled by two Caterpillar diesel engines, each rated at 700 bhp, the vessel's engines two Hall & Stavaert five-bladed bronze propellers are turned through ZF 350A reverse-reduction gears. With a top speed of 22 knots, the engines, when operated at an 18-knot cruising speed, will burn approximately 50 gph, yield- ing a range of more than 600 miles.

Under the vessel's raised foredeck are a small laboratory, bunks, galley and head for eight research scientists and crew. Also onboard are a variety of sys- tems that can be used to study plankton, temperature, salinity and nutrients.

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Maritime Reporter & Engineering News