Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 2004)

NASSCO Starts Second T-AKE Ship 7,000 metric tons of dry cargo and ammunition and 23,500 barrels of marine diesel fuel.

First Offshore LNG

Deepwater Port Buoy

Under Construction is scheduled for transport to U.S. waters this November. First cargo for the

Energy Bridge Deepwater Port is sched- uled for January 2005, with planned capacity to deliver base load gas vol- umes in excess of 500 million cubic feet per day. The 186-ton STL unit will allow specially built LNG carriers fitted with onboard re-gasification equipment to transfer gas through the buoy, which is connected to a pipeline end manifold (PLEM) on the seafloor. tion ships for a total contract value of

SI.87 billion. The T-AKE contract includes options for an additional six ships, eventually creating a 12-ship fleet of new combat logistics force ships. If all the options are exercised, the 12-ship program would have a total value of $3.7 billion and become the largest con- tract in NASSCO's history. The first T-

AKE. which has been under construc- tion at NASSCO for a year, will be named the Lewis and Clark.

This ship, the sec- ond T-AKE. is to be named the

Sacagawea in honor of the Shoshone

Indian woman who acted as guide and

DeAnne Sutton, wife of Commander George Sutton (R) of the NAVSEA interpreter for Lewis

Program Office, completed the first cut and signed off on the first steel and Clark on their piece for the second T-AKE ship, to be named the Sacagawea. expedition into the

Northwest region of

Office, made the first cut on the ship's the United States from 1804-1806. first steel plate to signify the start of The T-AKEs will be 210 in (689 ft.) in construction. length and 32.2 meters (105.6 ft.) in

The U.S. Navy has awarded NASSCO beam, with a design draft of 9.12 m contracts for six new dry cargo/ammuni- (29.9 ft.). The ships will carry almost

National Steel and Shipbuilding

Company (NASSCO) has begun con- struction on the second ship in the T-

AKE program, a new class of combat logistics force ships designated the

Lewis and Clark class. Mrs. DeAnne

Sutton, wife of U.S. Navy Commander

George Sutton of the NAVSEA Program ABS surveyors, onsite at Junoverken

AB yard in Uddevalla, Sweden, monitor and inspect the fabrication of industry's first offshore LNG deepwater port buoy, designed by Advanced Production and

Loading AS of Norway (APL).

The port buoy will be ABS-classed as an XA1 Single-Point Mooring (SPM).

APL has contracted ABS to provide classification services for its Submerged

Turret Loading (STL) system, a single- point mooring system (SPM) and an integral component of the industry's first offshore LNG terminal, destined for the

Gulf of Mexico, some 116 miles off- shore Louisiana.

Dubbed the Energy Bridge Deepwater

Port, the terminal system incorporates

APL's STL technology commonly used in the offloading of oil in regions includ- ing the North Sea, offshore China and offshore Western Australia. The STL buoy, planned for installation on West

Cameron Block 603 in 280 ft. of water.

ABS surveyors, onsite at Junoverken AB yard in

Uddevalla, Sweden, monitor and inspect the fabrication of industry's first offshore LNG deepwater port buoy

ABS' scope of work encompasses the submerged turret loading buoy; the mooring system for the buoy; and the riser to take the gas from the buoy to the

PLEM.

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