Marine Log - April 2008 - (Page 36)

TUGS&BARGES An ATB has an articulated, or hinged, connection system between the tug and barge, which allows movement in one axis, or plane in the critical area of fore and aft pitch. Crowley and VT Halter Marine jointly designed the ATB tank vessel. The barge 650-4 was built at Halter’s shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss., and the Integrity at its ICE CLASS TANKERS shipyard, in Moss Point, Miss. The new ATBs feature the latest systems technology and double-hull construction for maximum safety and reliability. Not only does the unit have the capability of transporting refined products, but it can also carry heated cargoes and easy chemicals, which require special arrangements of vents, stripping sys- tems, pump components and tank coatings above that normally required for product carriers. All of Crowley’s ATBs are built under the ABS SafeHull program for environmental protection. This program puts the vessel design through an exhaustive review to identify structural loads and strengthen the vessel structure. The 650Class barges will be 27,000 deadweight tons, 587 feet in length, 74 feet in breadth and 40 feet in depth. The fully loaded draft will be 30 feet. There is an electric cargo pump in each of the 14 cargo tanks to assure maximum cargo integrity and segregation flexibility; two anchor windlasses and associated equipment to enable the vessel to accommodate offshore mooring operations; and a vacuum system with three retention tanks to easily handle cargo changes. There is also a nitrogen generator and vapor collection system for maximum safety. A layer of nitrogen covers products in the tanks to make the atmosphere too lean for combustion. An enhanced mooring system features 1,000-foot Spectra-type lines on split drums with a high-speed recovery rate of 100 feet per minute. Meanwhile, Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co., Inc., Mobile, Ala., is building two ATB 8,000 hp tugs for delivery to OSG America L.P., Tampa, Fla., this year and next. One of the tugs, the OSG Courageous, will be used to replace Freedom, a conventional tug, in the OSG America fleet, allowing the company to convert its only conventional tug-barge unit to an ATB. OSG America’s fleet of 11 product carriers and eight tank barges, has a carrying capacity of 5.25 million bbl. This October, Reinauer Transportation will begin delivering the first of a series of four 100,000 bbl ocean tank barges from its Senesco Marine facility in Kingston, R.I. Smaller ocean tank barges for ATB units have also been ordered. Bollinger Marine Fabricators, L.L.C., Morgan City, La., has signed a contract for the design and new construction of a 55,000 bbl double hull tank barge, with Martin Midstream Partners, LP., Kilgore, Tex. A clean oil barge, the M 6000, will be classed and certified ABS + A1 Oil Tank Barge, Manned Ocean Services. The barge will measure 350 ft x 70 ft x 25 ft and will be outfitted with the Bludworth Cook Marine ATB Flexible Connection System. ML 36 MARINE LOG APRIL 2008 www.marinelog.com http://www.lufkin.com http://www.lufkin.com http://www.lufkin.com http://www.marinelog.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Marine Log - April 2008

Marine Log - April 2008 Contents Editorial Second Thoughts Update Inside Washington Offshore Vessels Evolve to Meet Subsea Demands Picking the Right Floaters for Deepwater Tugs: The Good Times Roll, But for How Long? Interactive TV at Sea Jo-Kell's Suzan Kelly Tugs & Barges Exhibitors Preview Beyond Imagination Tech News Newsmakers Contracts Events Website Directory Infodirect ML Marketplace Last Page

Marine Log - April 2008

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