Page 62: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2001)

WE HAVE QUITE A WEIGHTING LIST

If your vessel requires fixed ballast, you shouldn't go to sea without us* 2,-1

I A

PROVEN PROCESS

PROVEN SYSTEM

PROVEN COMPANY

FIXED BALLAST MATERIALS

T AND INSTALLATION BALLAST\TECHNOLOGIES, INC. 520-790-2229 FAX: 520-790-2239 WWW.BALLASTTECH.COM

Pumping Ballast for Ocean-Going Barges

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Complete Marine Refrigeration Systems

Air Conditioning Compressor and Chiller Units

Reefer Cargo Box Installation/Repair

Whatever Your Application It Pays To Contact

ADRICK MARINE CORPORATION

CALL US To Put ADRICK'S INNOVATION To Work For You

Ships Air Conditioning Units

Walk-in coolers and freezers

Portable reefer storage units

Portable A/C dockside systems

Control room dehumidification systems

Self contained A/C uprights and compacts

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Door gaskets

ADRICK MARINE CORPORATION 81 Mahan Street

West Babylon, NY 11704

Call (800) 326-ADRICK (631) 491-9475

FAX: (631) 491-9478

ADRICK

COOUNG

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In Seattle, Wash., two of the largest barge companies in the world use Bibo pumps from ITT's Flygt unit and axial flow pumps from ITT's Goulds Pump unit to pump ballast water for trim and balance of oceangoing barges as they load and unload their cargo of commodities.

One of the regions of the world with a large concentration of tugs and barges is the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., partic- ularly around the City of Seattle.

Headquartered in Seattle, Foss Mar- itime operates the largest tug fleet on the west coast and provides a full range of marine transportation services. The cargo for Foss' barges is diverse and includes weekly scheduled tows transport agricul- tural products such as peas, beans, lentils, flour, hay cubes, alfalfa products, as well as milk carton stock and dimensional lumber, from the ports of Lewiston,

Umatilla, and Portland, for export over- seas. Refrigerated containers laden with french fries and other perishable com- modities are shipped in special barges outfitted with generators.

A 286-ft. (87.1-m) ocean-going cargo barge was recently transferred from Foss

Maritime to a sister company, Hawaiian

Tug and Barge. Designed to transport cargo in 20 x 8 x 8-ft. (6 x 2.4 x 2.4-m) containers that are stacked on the deck of this huge barge, the barge underwent a large-scale modification at the Foss ship- yard in Seattle for work in the Hawaiian islands. One of the most important modi- fications was the addition of a new pump scheme to simplify the ballasting system aboard the barge.

As the barge is loaded and unloaded with the massive containers that are often driven on and off the barge, the barge must stay even with the dock. When load- ing the containers, this means adjusting the ballast by pumping sea water out of the ballast tanks to increase the buoyancy of the barge — with the reverse being the case as cargo is offloaded; a procedure requires great communication between the barge operator and the longshoremen.

The existing labor-intensive, antiquated ballast systems on most barges usually use big, inefficient pumps, thousands of feet of expensive alloy piping, manual labor to turn valves, and lots of room for error.

As part of the modification of the barge,

Foss Maritime requested that a Goulds

Pump distributor, Beckwith & Kufifel help them re-evaluate the way operators bal- last/de-ballast the barge.

According to Mark Romero of Beck- with & Kuffel, "The barge in question required four ballast systems. The goal when ballasting/de-ballasting is to trim and balance the barge as it is loaded and unloaded with ocean containers." Romero continued, noting that, "The advantage of the axial flow pump is that it can run in both directions — for ballast and debal- last. This unique feature and benefit allowed us to solve their problem."

Romero contacted Charlie Burrows of

Goulds Pumps Ashland Operations, for assistance. Together, Romero and Bur- rows concluded that a Goulds axial flow pump, which can run in alternating rota- tion, could provide a simplified solution to a complex operation. Running the pump in standard rotation would add bal- last. Reversing rotation would send water out the sea chest.

This solution resulted in the installation of four Alloy 20 MPAF pumps, including motors, control panels, and variable fre- quency drives. The reverse-rotation approach has greatly simplified adjusting the barge ballast. The Goulds solution has also reduced the alloy piping require- ments and minimized the number of expensive valves that are required, and made changing the barge ballast simpler and faster. Now a simple push of a button will change ballast in minutes instead of hours.

Foss Maritime has found this innovative system greatly beneficial, as it reduces the company's total cost of ownership — ini- tial price, energy consumption, mainte- nance and operation costs are all dramati- cally reduced.

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Web Site Boasts Directory Of Oil

Spill Cleanup Organizations

Containing more than 1,100 oil spill response centers in 49 countries and the entire U.S., Cleanupoil.com continues to grow at a rapid pace. Known as the most comprehensive International Directory of

Oil Spill Cleanup Contractors and

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The Pacific Northwest boasts one of the largest concentrations of tugs and barges.