Page 92: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2014)

92 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News ? AUGUST 2014 (4,694 hp each) for a total installed pow-er of 9,384 BHP. Metal Shark has commenced opera-tions at its new shipyard, where the Þ rst of its recently announced Endurance-class catamarans is now in production. In January, Metal Shark acquired a 25- acre waterfront tract situated on the Charenton Bypass Canal in Franklin, La., and announced plans to develop the new property into a facility to support its planned aluminum and steel shipbuild-ing efforts for vessels up to 250-ft. long. Six months later, the new facility is op- erational and production is underway. ?We?re booked well into 2015 with new 45-, 55-, and 75-ft. pilot boats mul-tiuse port utility boats, and dive support vessels, so we?ve been working around the clock to bring our new Franklin yard online,? said Christopher Allard, Metal Shark president. The Þ rst boat to take shape at the new yard is a 75 x 22-ft. aluminum catamaran-hulled Metal Shark Endurance-class vessel built for a Louisiana port operator. Soon, work will begin on a second 75-ft. Endurance and two 55-ft. versions of the company?s De- Þ ant-class monohull pilot boats as Metal Shark ramps up its operations at the new facility. Horizon Shipbuilding of Bayou La Batre, Ala., delivered the fourth in a se- ries of 74-ft. towboats to Canal Barge Company. Jane Merrick is 74 ft. long with a 32.5-ft. beam and an 8.5-ft. draft. Designed by Marine Design, Inc. of Gulf Breeze, Fla., the vessel is capable of pushing fully loaded fuel barges at 10 knots. Its 2000 hp is provided by Cum-mins K38M, tier II 12-cylinder marine propulsion engines, and drives 74-in. Kahlenberg propellers through Reintjes WAF 562 reduction gears. Offshore Inland Marine & Oil Þ eld Services Inc. (OIMO), which provides in Topside and Riding Crew repair ser- vices, said it expanded its facilities and services at the Port of Pensacola. This phase of planned expansions will in-clude a lease of 40,000 square foot man-ufacturing space to support subsea and marine related businesses. This expan- sion is in sync with the Pensacola Port Advisory Committees? recommendation to the mayor that offshore/subsea busi- ness development be the focus of Port asset usage. This approach provides a catalyst for increased economic growth in downtown Pensacola. Through this public/private development project en-hanced capabilities are added thereby increasing Port attractiveness to off- shore service companies. ?As OIMO continues to build reputation in dockside service offering, it is important to con- tinue to meet increased expectations for one-stop service delivery,? said Robin Roberts, OIMO?s Founder and Presi- dent. ?This expansion is a major step in accomplishing the goal of building the Port of Pensacola into a major Gulf of Jennifer Legg, Crowley?s assistant treasurer and vessel sponsor, breaks the ceremonial bottle of champagne across the hull of the Ocean Sky the third dynamic positioning (DP) tugboat to the company?s expanded ocean towing  eet.Built by New Generation Shipyard in Houm, La., he Lisa Gail Strafuss car- ries the well know Blessey Marine stack logo and is well sized and  tted out for pushing fuel barges in both the canals along the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River system. A pair of grid-cooled Cummins K38-M main engines provides main power. Bay Shipbuilding Company (BSC) of Sturgeon Bay, Wis., a subsidiary of Fincantieri Marine Group (FMG), will keep its workers busy as it has been awarded a contract to build two 155,000-barrel capacity barges and two 6,000 HP tugs for Kirby Corporation.(Photo: Crowley Maritime) Photo courtesy of New Generation Shipbuilding Photo: Bay ShipbuildingAustal USA Launches LCS 8Austal USA completed the launch of the future USS Montgomery (LCS 8). This ves- sel is the second of ten 127-meter Independence-variant LCS class ships Austal has been contracted to build for the U.S. Navy as prime contractor subsequent to a $3.5 billion block buy in 2010. ?The LCS program continues to progress very well as we continue to see marked improvement in performance ship to ship,? said Craig Perciavalle, Austal USA President. With the assistance of Berard Transportation and BAE Systems? Southeast Shipyard, the launch of Montgomery was conducted in a multi-step process which involved lifting the entire 1,600-metric-ton ship almost three feet in the air, moving it approximately 400 ft. onto a moored deck barge ad- jacent to the assembly bay, then transferring the LCS to a  oating dry dock, BAE?s Drydock Alabama. The  oating dry dock was submerged with Montgomery entering the water for the  rst time. The ship is now moored in the Mobile River in front of Austal USA?s facility, where it will undergo  nal out tting and activation before sea trials and delivery to the Navy. Photo: AustalMR #8 (90-97).indd 92MR #8 (90-97).indd 928/7/2014 10:00:25 AM8/7/2014 10:00:25 AM