Workboat articles from July 2008

Workboat archives from July 2008

A new source of mariners?(Editor'sWatch)(Editorial)
July 1, 2008... Business is good. New boats are being built in impressive numbers, and most vessel operators are making money. So what will spoil this unprecedented run? Another offshore bust, overbuilding? How about companies forced to idle big chunks of...

Quit your complaining.(MailBag)(Transportation Worker Identification Credential)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... It seems that every month in Mail Bag there is at least one complaint about the way sailors have run into problems obtaining their TWIC cards. I'm getting a little tired of reading about the sailor who makes an appointment, can't read a...

Proving who you are.(MailBag)(Letter to the editor)
July 1, 2008... I read the letter from Capt. Cantilina ("There must be a better way," Mail Bag, May 2008) concerning his frustration in providing background information and fingerprints. I wonder why he does not realize that the process calls for...

On the water: no more radar?(At AGlance)
July 1, 2008... Greed and shortsightedness know no bounds. Lurking just over the horizon like an ominous iceberg is an international proposal to do away with the most important and reliable navigation and collision-avoidance tool available to mariners--radar....

Captain's table: TRB report will provide ferry industry with guidelines for expansion.(At AGlance)
July 1, 2008... The Transportation Research Board plans on releasing a report in 2010 that will provide guidelines for ferry operations. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program is developing "Guidelines for Ferry...

WorkBoat Composite Index: index jumps over 100 points.
July 1, 2008... May was a bad month for the Dow Jones Industrials. Not so for the WorkBoat Composite Index. While the Dow Jones lost 181 points, or 1.4 percent, the WorkBoat Composite rose 101 points, or 5.6 percent. For the month, gainers topped winners...

OSV day ratesL: big boats getting better rates.(At AGlance)
July 1, 2008... The offshore service vessel market treaded water in May with day rates mixed for supply boats and crewboats. Average day rates for smaller supply vessels (under 200') dipped $240 a day and utilization dropped 2 percent to 92 percent....

Inland insider: walk on the river at the corps planning conference.(At A Glance)
July 1, 2008... San Antonio's Riverwalk had humble beginnings as a 1930s-era Army Corps of Engineers flood control project. Since then, the Riverwalk has been developed as a scenic tourist attraction, and it provided a suitable backdrop for the Corps of...

Legal talk: an engineer's worst nightmare.(At AGlance)
July 1, 2008... In May, U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of Florida charged Norwegian Cruise Line Ltd. with grossly negligent operation of the S.S. Norway. This came about five years after a boiler explosion aboard the ship killed eight crewmembers and...

Insurance watch: insuring your crew--part II.(At AGlance)
July 1, 2008... In the 20th century, our more litigious society demanded protection for crews and vessel owners against negligence claims filed by injured crewmembers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "The Merchant Seaman's Act of 1920," or as we in the...

Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co.(NEWS LOG)
July 1, 2008... The engine room on the 265' anchor-handling tug/supply (AHTS) vessel Seacor Sherman caught fire in May while under construction at Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc. in Mobile, Ala. The fire led to an explosion in the engine room that...

NTSB wants final say in marine investigations.(NEWS LOG)
July 1, 2008... The National Transportation Safety Board wants to have the upper hand in marine investigations--especially high profile ones--when at loggerheads with the U.S. Coast Guard after an incident. The agency made its case before a congressional...

Buyer finally found for coastal cruisers.(NEWS BITTS)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... Seven years after being tied up after bankruptcy, the Cape May Light and Cape Cod Light have finally been sold. The two 224-passenger, 300' coastal cruisers, which were built with $78.3 million in Title XI loan guarantees, were sold in late May...

Ocean carrier pricing probe leads to layoffs.(NewsLog)
July 1, 2008... At least two ocean carriers have laid off employees in the wake of a Justice Department investigation of coastwise pricing practices and a raft of shippers' lawsuits that take a swipe at the Jones Act. Horizon Lines Inc., put six employees...

GAO to investigate Coast Guard's judge system.(NEWS BITTS)(Government Accountability Office)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... The Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, will audit the U.S. Coast Guard's Administrative Law Judge (AU) system, which has been under fire since last year. Chief Judge Joseph Ingolia said he welcomes the review...

Gulfmark-Rigdon deal won't shake up Gulf.(NewsLog)
July 1, 2008... Gulfmark Offshore's purchase of Rigdon Marine is expected to change little in the makeup of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico's offshore service vessel fleet. Though headquartered in Houston, 42 of GulfMark's vessels operate in the North Sea....

MMS is bullish on the Deepwater U.S. Gulf.(NewsLog)
July 1, 2008... Deepwater and ultradeepwater Gulf of Mexico oil and gas leasing, drilling and production continues to gain steam, according to the Minerals Management Service (MMS). About 72 percent of the Gulf's oil production comes from wells drilled in...

K-Sea purchases eight tugs for $42 million.(NEWS BITTS)
July 1, 2008... K-Sea Transportation Partners LP, Staten Island, N.Y., has purchased eight tugs previously owned and operated by affiliates of New York-based Roehrig Maritime for approximately $41.9 million in cash. The tugs range in size from 2,400 hp to...

Coal fired: it's all about fossil fuel on the Ohio River.(OHIO River)
July 1, 2008... To Pittsburgh residents, the spot where the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers meet to form the Ohio River is the "Golden Triangle.''' This is the crossroads of some of the nation's heaviest industry and home to some of the inland waterways'...

Armed and ready? the Coast Guard accepts delivery of the first National Security Cutter.(National Security Cutter)
July 1, 2008... In May, about four years after construction of the first National Security Cutter began, the U.S. Coast Guard finally accepted delivery of the Bertholf--a 418' work-in-progress. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] With its crew of 122 aboard, the...

Carry on: ATB construction continues at a steady pace.(Articulated Tug-Barges)
July 1, 2008... The price of a barrel of oil has never been higher, and safely hauling the precious liquid has never been more important. The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 mandated that vessels and barges carrying potentially hazardous liquid cargoes in U.S....

On the ways: another Corps accommodations barge from Patti Shipyard.(CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS)
July 1, 2008... In late May, Patti Shipyard Inc., Pensacola, Fla., was finishing up work on a new quarters barge for the Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul (Minn.) District. It's the fourth quarters barge Patti has built for the Corps, but the...

School bays: Maritime-themed high schools may be a pipeline for future mariners.(CoverStory)
July 1, 2008... Vessel companies have in-house training programs. State governments support maritime academies across the country, and there's the federal U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in New York. Maritime unions run training schools. Privately run maritime...

Trading places: Foss adds a new class of ASD tugs from Texas operator.(Boats & Gear)(contracts Foss Maritime Company and Signet Maritime Corp)
July 1, 2008... The back of Capt. Dave Corrie's long sleeved T-shirt shows a profile drawing of the new tug he's steering out into Commencement Bay in Tacoma, Wash. "Welcome Aboard," says the T-shirt. "Foss Maritime Company proudly welcomes the newest member...

Perfect pitch; Propellers must be properly tuned to optimize performance.(Propulsion)
July 1, 2008... Good, good, good, good vibrations... " So goes the lyrics to the Beach Boys' popular song "Good Vibrations." Obviously, the lads from Southern California never spent much time on the water in a powerboat that had a prop out of balance. ...

July 1948.(WORKBOAT LOOKS BACK)
July 1, 2008... * On June 29, the Department of Commerce held a meeting to lay out plans for the allocation of steel to boat-builders. The building and outfitting of new barges has been hampered for over a year by the supply of steel. Supplies of steel plate,...

July 1958.(WORKBOAT LOOKS BACK)(aluminum tug built in the U.S.)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... * The 55'X17' Sumter was christened last month in New Orleans. The Sumter is reportedly the first aluminum tug built in the U.S. and the first aluminum vessel to be certified by the American Bureau of Shipping. Built by Bryant Boats Inc., Bayou...

July 1978.(WORKBOAT LOOKS BACK)(Brief article)
July 1, 2008... * With over $400 million in work either completed or underway, the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway is now 20 percent complete. Work on the waterway began in 1972. The first lock and dam at Gainesville, Ala., which cost $33 million to build, is...