Page 34: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2006)

34 • MarineNews • July 2006

General Dynamics NASSCO delivered the USNS Lewis and Clark (T-AKE 1) to the U.S. Navy. The ship is named after

Captains Meriwether Lewis and William

Clark, who led a legendary exploration of the American West from 1804 to 1806.

USNS Lewis and Clark is the first of an expected class of 11 dry cargo-ammuni- tion ships.

With modular cargo holding and han- dling systems, the Lewis and Clark can replenish combat ships at sea with ammu- nition, food or fuel in one mission and then be quickly reconfigured for an alter- nate mission, such as a humanitarian sealift of supplies. The ship incorporates international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, includ- ing an integrated electric-drive propulsion system, to minimize operating costs over its projected 40-year service life. Con- struction of the ship began in September 2003.

Lewis and Clark's characteristics:

Length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .689 ft.

Displacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,945 metric tons

Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 knots

Propulsion system . . . . . .Commercial, off-the-shelf, . . . . . . . . . . . . . .integrated diesel-electric powered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(35 megawatts total)

Cargo capacity . . . .6,675 metric tons of dry goods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23,450 barrels of fuel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52,800 gallons of water

Crew . . . . . . 172 civilian mariners and Navy sailors

Bisso Salvages

Survey Vessel

Bisso Marine Co., Inc., completed the salvage of a 480-ton survey vessel which purportedly sank after striking a platform which was toppled following Hurricane

Rita. The vessel sank in 148 ft. of water in the South Marsh Island area and was found upside down lying perpendicular across an 18 in. gas pipeline. During the first phase of the salvage operation Bisso

Marine salvage team utilized the 400 ft.

DP2 DSV Pertinacia to conduct the initial salvage survey, recover remaining fuel, lube oil and dirty oil as well as place the salvage bundle rigging. The first phase of the salvage operation was conducted dur- ing the winter. However, due to a signifi- cant resource availability issue, the 600 ton capacity D/B Lili Bisso and the D/B oaz were not able to arrive on location until early May. Once on location the sal- vage team rigged the D/B Lili Bisso to the pre-placed salvage bundles.

The vessel was lifted upside down, rather than first being uprighted, to miti- gate the risk of pipeline damage during a righting attempt. Once off of the pipeline the vessel was moved away from the pipeline and lifted in the water column 110 ft. With the vessel approximately 40 ft. below the surface, the full weight of the vessel was transferred to two bolstered brackets on the D/B Lili Bisso where it hung while the lifting rigging was short- ened and returned to the hook. Once the rigging was returned to the hook the ves- sel was removed from the bolstered brackets and lifted out of the water to be placed on to a materials barge for delivery to a scrap facility

Conrad Wins

Contracts

Conrad Industries, Inc. has signed con- tracts during the second quarter of 2006 for the construction of fourteen vessels totaling $28.8m and the delivery of nine vessels in recent months.

Offshore Marine Contractors has exe- cuted contracts for two 175 ft. class 110 x 64.5 x 9 ft. liftboats and for a 200 ft. class 111 x 66.5 x10 ft. liftboat. These add to the other three 175 ft. class liftboats in progress previously announced by Con- rad. Conrad has executed multiple con- tracts with various customers for deck barges, spud barges, unloading barges, an anchor scow and a crane barge that range in size from 120 x 30 x 7 ft. to 200 x 40 x 7 ft. Johnny Conrad, President and CEO said, "We are continuing to add longtime core products to our backlog. With these additions, our current backlog is approxi- mately $70m compared to $51m at March 31, 2006 and $34 million at December 31, 2005." Conrad also announced the recent delivery of its first offshore tank barge in

June. The 300 x 60 x 24 ft. double skin tank barge was delivered to Penn Mar- itime of New York. The barge has a capacity of 35,000 bbls. of asphalt. The barge is ABS Classed and equipped with deepwell pumps, a hot oil heater and accommodations for the barge captain.

In addition, Conrad has delivered two of its standard 120 ft. deck barges, one to

Inland Barge Rental and one to Traylor

Brothers. W.C. Fore and T&T Marine, both repeat customers have each taken delivery of 140 ft. deck barges.

Four specialty deck barges designed and constructed for ferry landing service have been delivered to Global Marine

Construction, Plainview, NY. Two of the barges are 90 x 35 x 9 ft., one 80 x 20 x 9 ft. and one 50 x 35 x 9 ft. These barges are equipped with special fendering systems, mooring attachments, gangways and handrail arrangements that are necessary to accommodate the end use. The Fish

Stocking Vessel, Spencer F. Baird, was delivered at end of June to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 95 x 30 x 13 ft. vessel will be used to stock yearling lake trout and to assess the health of the fish stocks in Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

The vessel is designed to operate year round in the Great Lakes and is ABS

Classed Maltese Cross A1, AMS, Sur- vey/Fishing Vessel. Rated at 1600 hp, it has accommodations for 3 crew members and 5 scientists.

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NASSCO Delivers the Lead

Ship of T-AKE Class

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