NASSCO Delivers Alaskan Frontier
National Steel and Shipbuilding Company (NASSCO) delivered the Alaskan Frontier, the first of four Alaska-class double-hull oil tankers being built for BP Oil Shipping Company, USA. Touted as state-of-theart ships and environmentally friendly — backed by an innovative diesel-electric propulsion system, with redundant engines, shafts and screws, significantly increases reliability and reduces air emissions and maintenance downtime — the ship has been designed for a life of 35 years with a deck structure designed for a life of 50 years.
The ship uses seawater instead of oil to cool and lubricate their propeller shafts, thus eliminating the possibility of accidental oil leaks. Their cargo piping, normally installed on the deck, is inside the cargo tanks, to reduce the risk of small spills. "NASSCO was acquired by General Dynamics in 1998 and they have invested more than $120 million since then to improve our shipbuilding technologies and production efficiencies," said Richard Vortmann, NASSCO president. "BP is the first customer to fully benefit from this investment." These double-hull ships measure 941 x 164 ft. (287 x 50 m) and boast a capacity of 1.3 million barrels of oil. The design of the tankers in the Alaska Class allows maximum flexibility for oil deliveries from Alaska to West Coast ports, including BP refineries in Los Angeles, Calif., and Cherry Point, Wash. The four ships are scheduled to be delivered between now and the end of 2006. Once completed, the four BP ships will be operated by the Alaska Tanker Company of Beaverton, Oregon, which operates BP-chartered tankers used in the Alaska North Slope trade. Alaska Tanker Company is 25 percent owned by BP.
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Content
- SSI Concerns Continue page: 5
- Signed Confessions page: 9
- OMI to Pay $4.2M for Waste Oil Dumping page: 14
- NASSCO Delivers Alaskan Frontier page: 17
- Alabama Shipyard to Build Hopper Dredge page: 17
- Merwede Tapped for Navy, Commercial Contracts page: 18
- FBM Babcock Wins U.S. Contract page: 19
- New Vessels from VT Halmatic page: 19
- ABCO Launches Three New Boats page: 20
- IR Generates $64M in Orders page: 24
- Sideways to Swimmers: Unusual Tank Testing page: 26
- Current Uses of FEA in Shipbuilding page: 30
- BMT Aims to Improve Vessel Evac page: 32
- Flensburg Makes its Mark Again page: 36
- SMM 2004: Ready for the World page: 36
- German Shipyards Propose Merger page: 37
- Voith to Exhibit VWT Baut at SIMM page: 37
- Blohm + Voss Repair Wins Business page: 38
- Methane Arctic Benefits from German Technology page: 39
- Becker Kort Rudder Nozzles for Improved Maneuverability page: 40
- Payer Presented Cross of the Order of Merit page: 42
- Xantic: Focus on Integrated Solutions page: 44
- A Benchmark in Electronic Fuel Injection page: 45
- Q&A with Wartsila CTO Matti Kleimola page: 46
- Seacor Crewboats "Eliminators" Some Maintenance Costs page: 49
- (Fuel) Cells of Endeavor page: 50
- Containerships: When Will One Engine Not Be Enough? page: 52
- Most Powerful Common- Rail Engine Passes Test page: 54
- Clean Concept for Brostrom Tankers page: 54
- Canadian Towing Firm Refits for the Future page: 56
- TOR: The Next-Generation Turbocharger page: 57
- Duramax Marine Creates Largest Ever DuraCooler page: 58
- ABS: Large Ship Hull Deflections Impact the Shaft Alignment page: 60
- The Great Maritime Disruption... that Never Happened page: 66
- New Positioning Technique Helps Cut Costs in Deepwater GOM page: 76
- U.S. Ferry Market Prospects Looking Up page: 77
- "Ship Design and Construction" page: 81