WorkBoat February 2018 by WorkBoat

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ON THE COVER

FEBRUARY 2018 • VOLUME 75, NO. 2

The NY Waterway ferry Thomas Jefferson on the Hudson River in New York. Photo by Kirk Moore

FEATURES 18 Focus: Shell Game Three inland waterways officials discuss the potential federal infrastructure package at the WorkBoat Show.

20 In Business: Decked Out JonRie’s winches are found on tugs across the U.S.

24 Vessel Report: Pleasure Seekers Excursion vessels are seeing strong demand with new boats and new routes being added.

32 Cover Story: Cruise Control The passenger vessel industry’s hot streak continues.

BOATS & GEAR 28 On the Ways • Fourth and final 1,500-passenger Olympic-class ferry for Washington State Ferries • Chesapeake to build new class of push tugs for Vane • Multimission boat for South Carolina from Stanley Aluminum • Catamaran tour boat from Armstrong Marine for Hawaii • Metal Shark targets the pilot boat market • Austal delivers another Navy expeditionary fast transport vessel

40 Inside Job Fire resistant and sound and fatigue reducing materials should receive consideration when designing a vessel’s interior.

AT A GLANCE 8 8 9 10 12 12 13

On the Water: Capable mariners — Part III. Captain’s Table: 2017 was a good year for passenger vessels. Energy Level: A new development model for offshore? WB Stock Index: Workboat stocks jump 29% in 2017. Inland Insider: Is it boom to bust for agriculture? Insurance Watch: Know what’s in your commercial hull policy. Legal Talk: Watch out for drug testing pitfalls.

NEWS LOG 14 14 15 15 16 16 16

Sediment could change course of the Mississippi River. Outbreaks of Arctic air put icebreakers to work in early 2018. Coast Guard to act on El Faro report findings. Viking River Cruises puts the brakes on U.S. expansion plans. University drops testing of ballast water management systems. Oregon tour boat captain’s license suspended for second time. Captain, stepson lost in Mississippi River towboat sinking.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

DEPARTMENTS 2 6 42 47 48

Editor’s Watch Mail Bag Port of Call Advertisers Index WB Looks Back

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Editor'sWatch

Handicapping the industry

hen I was younger I had a bookie named Duke. In those days only Vegas and Atlantic City had casinos and placing a bet legally in New Orleans outside of the racetrack was virtually impossible. And when I couldn’t get to the track, I could always call up Duke. (There were no off-track betting facilities then.) I haven’t used a bookie in 25 years and I heard old Duke moved back to Texas years ago. I was thinking about how he would handicap the different sectors of the workboat industry today in terms of a horse race. First he would probably say that the offshore industry’s glory days are over. But it can still be a force to be reckoned with once it gets over some injuries. For now, it would be looked at as a long shot. The barge industry has some good legs, but it got in its own way in recent years by overbuilding equipment. I’d say Duke would put its odds at somewhere around 25-1. Tugs is a sector that is consistently dependable, not a lot of highs and lows. He would give them even money. The favorite would definitely be the passenger vessel owners and operators. That sector would go off at around 2-5 odds if the race were run tomorrow. As for shipyards, those that build for the passenger vessel and other nonenergy markets will finish in the money while others will have a harder time. In this month’s cover story (see page 32), Dale DuPont takes a look at how well the passenger vessel industry is doing. “The industry at large is experiencing great economic conditions. As a result many operators are looking

Ken Hocke, Senior Editor

at buying or building new vessels,” Passenger Vessel Association executive director John Groundwater told Dale. “Several shipyards who were once members of PVA are looking to rejoin the association because they want to reenter the passenger vessel market.” It wasn't always this way. In Capt. Alan Bernstein’s Captain’s Table column this month (see page 8), he writes, “From 2008 up until the past few years, the passenger vessel industry has been coping with a sluggish business climate. This caused us to reevaluate and restructure our businesses to cope with changing markets. While this exercise was painful, I believe it was absolutely necessary.”

khocke@divcom.com

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WORKBOAT® (ISSN 0043-8014) is published monthly by Diversified Business Communications and Diversified Publications, 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112-7438. Editorial Office: P.O. Box 1348, Mandeville, LA 70470. Annual Subscription Rates: U.S. $39; Canada $55; International $103. When available, extra copies of current issue are $4, all other issues and special issues are $5. For subscription customer service call (978) 671-0444. The publisher reserves the right to sell subscriptions to those who have purchasing power in the industry this publication serves. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, ME, and additional mailing offices. Circulation Office: 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112-7438. From time to time, we make your name and address available to other companies whose products and services may interest you. If you prefer not to receive such mailings, please send a copy of your mailing label to: WorkBoat’s Mailing Preference Service, P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORKBOAT, P.O. Box 1792, Lowell, MA 01853. Copyright 20 18 by Diversified Business Communications. Printed in U.S.A.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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PUBLISHER

Jerry Fraser jfraser@divcom.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF

David Krapf dkrapf@divcom.com

SENIOR EDITOR

Ken Hocke khocke@divcom.com

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Kirk Moore kmoore@divcom.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ART DIRECTOR

PUBLISHING OFFICES

Capt. Alan Bernstein • Bruce Buls • Michael Crowley • Dale K. DuPont • Pamela Glass • Max Hardberger • Kevin Horn • Joel Milton • Bill Pike • Kathy Bergren Smith Doug Stewart dstewart@divcom.com

Main Office: 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438 • Portland, ME 04112-7438 • (207) 842-5608 • Fax: (207) 842-5609 Southern/Editorial Office: P.O. Box 1348 • Mandeville, LA 70470 • Fax: (985) 624-4801 Subscription Information: (978) 671-0444 • cs@e-circ.net General Information: (207) 842-5610

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Mike Cohen (207) 842-5439 • Fax: (207) 842-5611 mcohen@divcom.com

(207) 842-5508 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 Producers of The International WorkBoat Show, WorkBoat Maintenance & Repair Conference and Expo, and Pacific Marine Expo www.workboatshow.com Chris Dimmerling (207) 842-5666 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 cdimmerling@divcom.com Theodore Wirth Michael Lodato mlodato@divcom.com

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Biehl first to provide Alyeska escort service

n the April 2017 issue of WorkBoat, I came across a picture on page 21 with a caption that stated Crowley Maritime has held the contract since the creation of Alyeska’s SERVS (Ship Escort/Response Vessel System). That is incorrect. At that time, Crowley was only providing ship assist services for the tankers. The first company

to provide escort and response services for then BP/Alyeska was Biehl Offshore, Houston. The vessels were the Biehl Trader and the Biehl Traveler, which began their work for Alyeska in May 1989 and ended in November 1991 when, I believe, Ocean Marine Services won the SERVS contract. Both Biehl vessels and their crews were intimately involved in setting up and developing the escort and response protocols provided by the service that

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are still in effect today. I am certain of this since I served as captain aboard the Biehl Trader during the time mentioned above. Richard F. Wisner Siletz, Ore.

Illegal passenger vessel operations dangers

recently attended the Passenger Vessel Association/Coast Guard Quality Partnership meeting in Annapolis, Md., to discuss combating illegal passenger vessel operations. Illegal operations and the potential dangers they present have existed since the inception of passenger vessel regulations. In recent years, however, the introduction of certain smart phone apps to the hospitality and transportation industries has exacerbated the issue by making it easier for property owners to enter into agreements to temporarily lease, charter, or rent their homes or vehicles to interested parties for compensation. As expected, emerging business ventures are now dedicated to boat rentals and water taxis using similar business plans and smart phone apps. For owners and operators of properly licensed and certificated vessels as well as their customers, this is likely a welcome convenience that will increase opportunities and accessibility. However, these new ventures also make non-compliant operations more accessible, which increases the threat to public safety, licensed mariners, and those who follow federal safety, security, and environmental protection regulations. Owners and operators must comply with federal regulations governing the operation of commercial passenger vessels regardless of the mode customers use to reserve the vessel. Failure to adhere to federal regulations can result in significant civil and criminal penalties. Lt. Cmdr. Baxter Smoak Coast Guard Office of Investigations & Casualty Analysis Washington, D.C.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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On the Water

Capable mariners — Part III

By Joel Milton

Joel Milton works on towing vessels. He can be reached at joelmilton@ yahoo.com.

he description of the bolo and its use that I gave in previous columns has two primary purposes. One is to inform the large number of North American mariners of the bolo’s very existence. Most mariners today, even many of the selfdescribed “old salts,” have never heard of a bolo, used one, or seen one used. As time passes and new generations of mariners take over, we risk losing valuable tools, techniques and knowledge that can be extremely beneficial but very difficult to retrieve once gone. It would be a shame for it to disappear due to what amounts to cultural neglect of our own profession. Like many other specialized tools, the bolo isn’t needed most of the time, but requires time and practice to develop the skills necessary to use it effectively and safely. Experience is also needed to know when to use it or not, which is just another part of the broad discipline of professional

Captain’s Table New Year’s reflections

By Capt. Alan Bernstein

Alan Bernstein, owner of BB Riverboats in Cincinnati, is a licensed master and a former president of the Passenger Vessel Association. He can be reached at 859-292-2449 or abernstein@ bbriverboats.com.

t is important to take stock of the past year as we look forward to the challenges, opportunities and the unknowns that lie ahead in 2018 and beyond. Looking back at 2017, there were several distressing incidents. Hurricanes brought devastation to parts of Texas, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Terrorist attacks occurred in numerous countries around the world, including here in the U.S. Yet we faced these situations with courage and resolve that demonstrated that we could meet and overcome the most challenging of circumstances. At the same time, 2017 was a banner year in terms of business conditions for my company, BB Riverboats in Cincinnati. In fact, the entire U.S. passenger vessel industry is, for the most part, experiencing healthy growth. (Check out this month’s cover story on the passenger vessel industry that begins on page 32, and also look for me at the PVA convention in late January.) From 2008 up until the past few years, the

seamanship. But when you really need one, there is no substitute for the bolo’s reliability and effectiveness. Yes, over many years equipment has been damaged and people injured through its misuse just like every other effective tool that has ever been created. By the time a tool or technique has become totally benign it most likely has also become equally ineffective. There is always risk attached. Surging a line is also inherently dangerous, but not nearly as dangerous as a full crew of mariners that don’t have a clue as to how to do it properly. Developing sound judgment and knowledge of how to manage the risks and dangers is far more important than blindly attempting to avoid anything that has the slightest hint of risk altogether. Taking into account the above, it’s important more than ever for experienced mariners with knowledge and skills to pass on not take its continuation for granted. Traditional skills, techniques and ways (adapted as needed to new and emerging technologies and processes) need to be taught and passed on to those coming up the ranks.

passenger vessel industry had been coping with a sluggish business climate. This caused us to reevaluate and restructure our businesses to cope with changing markets. While this exercise was painful, I believe it was absolutely necessary. It put passenger vessel operators in a good position to meet the evolving demands of our customers and the expanding economy. This new economic growth will mean more jobs in 2018, reinvestment in our current assets including equipment upgrades, and broader investments in new assets such as facilities and vessels. At BB Riverboats, this exciting business trend will also allow us to look at new cruises and new product ideas for 2018. I am very excited to say that my company is already making plans to hire more employees in 2018. I am honored to be associated with the U.S. maritime industry. While there are always ups and downs, the passenger vessel industry’s contribution to the U.S economy is significant. We are an excellent example of the ongoing economic strength of our nation, which should be a point of pride for all U.S. mariners. I wish each of you a happy, safe and prosperous 2018.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

WORKBOAT GOM INDICATORS

Energy Level

OCT. '17 WTI Crude Oil 51.91 Baker Hughes Rig Count 20 IHS OSV Utilization 25.4% U.S. Oil Production (millions bpd) 9.6

NOV. '17 56.21 20 26.6% 9.7*

Sources: Baker-Hughes; IHS Markit; U.S. EIA

*Estimated

A new offshore development model

DEC. '17 57.29 18 24.2% 9.8*

DEC.'16 52.01 22 25.1% 8.8

GOM RIG COUNT

By Bill Pike

here hasn’t been much good news to write about in the offshore market lately, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico. Any oil price increases that potentially could drive a return to activity in the Gulf have been almost immediately uprooted by onshore shale production increases. But just before Christmas, a spot of positive news hit the streets. Italian major Eni went from discovery to first gas on its Zohr natural gas field off the Egyptian coast in just over two years. Drilling, development and infrastructure deployment in a major gas field has never been done that fast before. It represents a seismic shift for the industry’s majors in an environment in which similar developments regularly take three to four times as long. Analysts polled by Eni a month after the discovery gave it only a 10% probability that the project would produce gas “some time in 2019,” according to an Eni memo cited by Bloomberg News. Twenty-four percent said after 2021 was more likely, according to Bloomberg. The rapid development of Zohr was accomplished by insourcing rather than the common practice of outsourcing. For instance, “to keep things moving, Eni didn’t hire a general contractor for Zohr, instead launching a direct tender process for technical components, including the longest umbilical cable ever used in such a project. At the onshore facility on the coast near Port Said 125 miles of pipe needed to be shipped from Europe,” Bloomberg said. Eni handled all of this. Additional projects are advancing design and construction timing elsewhere. Exxon Mobil Corp. discovered oil in offshore Guyana in 2015 and greenlighted the project earlier this year, saying it expects the first oil by 2020,

12/16

12/17

Bloomberg reported. The five-year plan is unusually short for a new field nearly 124 miles offshore with depths of up to 6,234 feet. The move to speed development, together with increasing cost savings in many areas, is key to a revival of off-

shore activity. These two trends make it highly likely that longer, more expensive projects in the Gulf of Mexico can take place at lower — maybe significantly lower — oil and gas prices. That’s just the boost needed to restart the workboat industry in the Gulf.

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WorkBoat Composite Index Stocks up 29% in 2017

he WorkBoat Composite Index closed out another strong year in 2017 by rising 66 points in December, or 3%. The Index has now posted six consecutive months of increases. Winners topped losers in December 17-13. In 2017, the Index rose 511 points, or 28.8%. The Index gained 15% in 2016. Suppliers also had a good year, rising STOCK CHART INDEX COMPARISONS Operators Suppliers Shipyards Workboat Composite PHLX Oil Service Index Dow Jones Industrials Standard & Poors 500

over 37% in 2017. Shipyards posted a 29% gain. All three topped the Dow, which was up 25% last year, and the S&P 500, which rose 19% in 2017. The big loser in 2017 was the Oil Service Sector index, which dipped 23%. Despite the tough economic conditions in the offshore energy market, some operators such as offshore driller Source: FinancialContent, Inc. www.financialcontent.com

11/30/17 327.78 3717.31 3018.43 2222.29 133.55 24272.35 2647.58

12/29/17 323.00 3877.64 3039.63 2288.15 149.55 24719.22 2673.61

NET CHANGE -4.78 160.33 21.20 65.86 16.00 446.87 26.03

For the complete up-to-date WorkBoat Stock Index, go to: workboat.com/resources/tools/workboat-composite-index/

PERCENT CHANGE -1.46 4.31 0.70 2.96 11.98 1.84 0.98

Rowan Companies is hopeful that exploration will pick up in 2018. In the third quarter, the company said that improved crude oil prices continued to help the offshore rig market find bottom and even enabled them to post some modest improvements in some categories and regions. “Interest from our customers to resume exploration drilling seems to be increasing,” Tom Burke, president and CEO of Rowan said during the company’s earnings call in November. However, he said that the majority of the demand continues to be for shorter-cycle activities and mature basins. “While this dynamic is supportive of a gradual recovery in jackup activity, the deepwater floater market is much more dependent on demand from exploration drilling.” Though Rowan has seen an increase in tendering activity in the floater market over the past few quarters, Burke said he still believes incremental contract fixtures will struggle to keep pace with the number of rigs coming off contracts through the end of 2017 and well into 2018. — David Krapf

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www.yanmar.com/us www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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Inland Insider Boom to bust for agriculture?

he financial health of an industry can have a major affect on transportation demand. An example is the lucrative movements of North Dakota crude oil by rail and barge as substitutes for the lack of pipeline capacity. Contrast that with coal and its continued difficulties in the face of persistent low natural gas prices. Another troubled commodity sector is emerging — U.S. agriculture. It is facing mounting international competition and shifting demands between crops and livestock. Grain prices have peaked and are near multiyear lows. U.S. agriculture is approaching the deepest farm slump since the 1980s, when demand for barges plummeted

Insurance Watch

What’s contained in your commercial hull policy?

our commercial vessel insurance actually consists of two separate policies — commercial hull and protection and indemnity (P&I) each with separate limits. But did you realize that your commercial hull policy contains separate limits that you may be able to recover? Lets take a quick look at what is available. To start you have up to the amount of limits for the amount insured on the hull. This amount is typically derived from the market value stated on a recent survey, although occasionally the underwriter may insure the vessel at a lower value. But be beware of the temptation of underinsuring your boat. If you have a claim where the damages 12

in response to industry overexpansion and caused a decade of hopper barge surpluses. Crop price trends are declining. For example, sugar beet prices were about $35 per ton in the late 1990s, rising to near $70 per ton in 2012, and then dropping to near $35 a ton in 2016. Corn and wheat have fared slightly better. Corn prices were stable at $2 per bushel in the late 1990s before rising to near $7 a bushel by 2012. Corn prices then dropped to about $3.20 per bushel by 2016. Similarly, wheat crop prices rose from over $2 per bushel in the late 1990s to nearly $8 per bushel by 2012 before declining to $4 a bushel by 2016. Part of the problem causing low prices is too much production. The USDA reported a 3.6-bushel-per-acre boost in the forecast national average corn yield, which resulted in a near 300-millionbushel increase in U.S. corn supplies to 16.9 billion bushels. The corn harvests

for recent years were smaller, 15.1 billion bushels in 2016 and 13.6 billion bushels in 2015. For the barge By Kevin Horn industry, this suggests that for the immediate term the U.S. agriculture boom is over and there is likely to be some retrenchment in the farm sector. This will be characterized by reductions of smaller family farm enterprises and increased big scale farming by big conglomerates. Barge tonnages of farm and food products in 2017 trended previous years (from 2013) well until September, and then dropped below all other year-todate trends. This suggests that 2018 is going to be a year to watch.

come close to or exceed the insured value then you have a constructive total loss. You do get paid, but the insurance company now owns your boat. The sue and labor clause covers expenses and measures that is incurred after a loss that prevents further damage to the insured property. These payments are in addition to any ultimate payment made to you in respects to your claim. Your hull policy also contains collision liability. This provides additional coverage for the vessel or structure you have damaged up to the limits you have your own hull insured for. The nice thing about this coverage is that if you cause damage to another vessel as well as your own, you only pay one deductible since both would be paid under the hull policy. You can often get this limit raised to $1 million for a small premium should your own vessel be insured for less. Also, you not only have additional limits for collision liability but you also have separate coverage for collision liability defense costs. Should your vessel be refloated or

towed to a port of refuge under contract by a third party you can make an expense claim under the salvage clause in your policy. You will need to By Chris get the salvor to Richmond release your vessel once it is out of harm’s way in order to get the claim settled from your insurance company. It is important to review your policy since commercial hull policies are never identical and can be changed by the underwriter. And of course have a conversation with your agent, since all this should be the basis of your vessel’s risk management.

Kevin Horn is a senior manager with GEC Inc., Delaplane, Va. He can be contacted at khorn@gecinc.com.

Chris Richmond is a marine insurance agent and licensed mariner with Allen Insurance and Financial. He can be reached at 800-439-4311 or at crichmond@allenif.com.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Legal Talk

Steering clear of drug testing pitfalls

serious marine casualty occurs on a holiday. How in heck are you going to get your folks timely drugtested? Will the Coast Guard help? Can I get a time extension? First, thumb wear the section of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) speaking to the requirements for alcohol and drug testing following a serious marine incident (46 C.F.R. 4.06-3). With some exceptions, drug testing must be conducted within 32 hours of the incident. While that may seem like plenty of time, transit times and hours that get eaten up following a casualty can bring you down to the wire. You can’t roll into just any drug testing facility. It has to be an “approved facility.” While I’ve heard of local

Coast Guard stations providing a list of approved locations, I haven’t heard of any Coasties offering a lift. That means if you or your crew are dripping seawater in the Coast Guard station’s lounge with the clock ticking, you’re likely going to have to muster your own transportation. Plus, experience shows that not every facility is going to be open on a holiday or late at night. Prudence dictates that you spend some time conjuring up casualty scenarios and checking to make sure you know and understand your options for obtaining drug testing. “So what, you miss the drug testing window,” the desk-jockey corporate type mumbles aloud. Missing the testing window may bring some hefty daily monetary penalties, may give rise to additional (and bad) Coast Guard action, and may create problems in any civil litigation. While you should talk to your maritime counsel, my thought would be to document every effort

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

made to get a timely drug test. Give the particular CFR a read again too, because it seems there’s the potential for the By John drug test being Fulweiler treated as timely if there were “safety concerns directly related” to the serious marine incident which prevented the test from being conducted within 32 hours. Don’t get hung up on this one example. Hopefully it’ll spark some thinking about the things that can go bump in the night and how best to prepare for them. Underway and making way. John K. Fulweiler of Fulweiler LLC is a licensed mariner and maritime attorney. He can be reached at john@saltwaterlaw. com or 1-800-383-MAYDAY.

FEBRUARY 2018

NEWS LOG NEWS BITTS ARCTIC OUTBREAKS BRING EARLY FREEZE TO WATERWAYS

Coast Guard/PO3 Steven Strohmaier

n outbreak of Arctic air over most of the U.S. set icebreakers to work for the New Year on the Great Lakes and Hudson River, a winter pattern that long-range forecasters expect to persist for the eastern half of the country. The first days of 2018 saw four ships beset by ice in Lake Eire, with 140' Coast Guard Bayclass icebreaking tugs Neah Bay and Morro Bay The Coast Guard icebreaker tug Penobscot Bay assists to the rescue. the tug Stephanie Dann on the Hudson River Jan. 2, 2018. On New York’s Hudson River, the Bay-class tugs Sturgeon Bay and Penobscot Bay went to work keeping the channel open for fuel supplies through the Empire State. The Northeast states use 80% of the home heating oil consumed in the U.S., and 90% of that is transported by barge, according to the Coast Guard. By Jan. 3, ice conditions were being set by the Coast Guard for ports as far south as Hampton Roads, Va., with significant ice in Chesapeake Bay. As the first major offshore storm of 2018 approached with blizzard conditions, the Virginia Capes were closed to inbound and outbound shipping. — Kirk Moore

Sediment could alter river’s course

times at intervals of around 1,000 to 1,500 years — with the area around Old River a previous point of departure for those shifts. The Atchafalaya would give the river flow a shorter and steeper route to the Gulf of Mexico, less than half of the 300 miles the Mississippi now flows from Old River. The last flood to threaten the structures in 2011 attracted nerve-wracking news media coverage, with helicopter

Corps of Engineers

buildup of sediment in the Lower Mississippi River could set the stage for a long-feared shift of the river into the Atchafalaya Basin, according to a study by a Louisiana State University research scientist. Sediment deposited on the river bottom just south of the Old River Control Structure north of Baton Rouge, La., has reduced the river depth by about 30' and narrowed the channel by half a mile since 1985, according to a presentation that hydrologist Yi-Jun Xu gave at the American Geophysical Union fall meeting in New Orleans in midDecember. That has affected the river’s flow capacity in the reach below the Old River gates, built in stages by the Corps of Engineers starting in the 1960s to prevent a flood from shifting the Mississippi’s flow into the Atchafalaya. The Corps and scientists have long understood the risk, seeing evidence the Mississippi has shifted course many

video shots of water boiling through the beleaguered controls. The sediment buildup — estimated at some 36 million metric tons – increases the possibility that a future “mega flood” could overwhelm the structures, triggering a full capture of the flow by the Atchafalaya, with dire consequences for Louisiana’s people and economy, the study warns. In addition to the bottom sediment,

The structures at Old River Control keep the Mississippi River from diverting into the Atchafalaya Basin. A study warns sediment buildup in the river could raise future flood heights and overwhelm the structures.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

NTSB

Xu identified some 530 million metric tons of sand on emerged river bars upstream between Old River and Vicksburg, Miss. If those were to be mobilized and swept downstream by a flood, they would impede the flow even more and potentially trigger the river to jump its bank around Old River. Projections that river flow could increase by 11% to 60% by the year 2100, due to increasing precipitation and urban growth with more runoff, are another risk factor, Xu noted. A breakout through the Atchafalaya would be catastrophic for Louisiana industry, which depends on the Lower Mississippi River for fresh water and would be stranded beside the old river channel, as it becomes essentially a tidal creek with salt water moving up from the Gulf of Mexico. That would create a public water supply crisis as well, immediately affecting around 1.5 million people in New Orleans and other communities that draw from the river, according to the study. In the Atchafalaya Basin, such a flood would likely overwhelm Morgan City, La., and create new land in the basin, which has already seen significant silting up in the past 30 years, Xu wrote. The paper recognizes one potential course of action — mining sediments for use in Louisiana’s massive coastal restoration enterprise — but cautions the risks and challenges are high. “Sediment transport has been and will remain the biggest challenge for the management of this large alluvial river system,” Xu concluded. “There is a dilemma between the channel aggradation possessing avulsion risk and the high demand on sediment for coastal restoration. Conventional thinking and engineering practices may not have a solution here. “A thorough assessment on trigger points and socioeconomic effects of a potential Mississippi River course switch is not only necessary, but inevitable (e.g., engineering solutions, risk assessment, emergency preparedness and response, and recovery capabilities).” — K. Moore

A rendering of the wreck of the El Faro.

Coast Guard to act on El Faro report

indings from the two-year inquiry into the sinking of the cargo ship El Faro and loss of 33 lives are leading the Coast Guard to overhaul its Alternative Compliance Program for ensuring safety of U.S. vessels and toughen its oversight of third-party inspection services — two key shortcomings identified by investigators. In accepting the report of the El Faro Marine Board of Inquiry, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Paul Zukunft concurred the primary cause of the Oct. 1, 2015 accident was Capt. Michael Davidson’s decision to navigate the 790' ro/ro containership too close to the path of Hurricane Joaquin. Top contributing factors included an ineffective safety management system within operating company Tote Services Inc., including substandard material conditions found on sistership El Yunque, failure to conduct proper emergency drills and other shortcomings, Zukunft said. But the Coast Guard itself and the American Bureau of Shipping, which should have uncovered the ships’ weaknesses under the Alternative Compliance Program, bore part of the blame, said Zukunft. The inquiry “revealed that ABS failed to uncover or otherwise resolve longstanding deficiencies that adversely affect the safety and seaworthiness of vessels on multiple occasions,” said Zukunft. “Yet the Coast Guard failed to adequately oversee the third party (ABS) in this case, and the investigation reveals that the Coast Guard has not sustained the proficiency and policy

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framework to do so in general,” he said. “The Coast Guard is fully committed to rectifying the shortcomings that led to these failures.” In a 32-page commentary on the report, Zukunft said the Coast Guard will undertake action to implement other safety recommendations of the board, including new requirements for high-water alarms and replacing old open lifeboats with enclosed SOLAScompliant lifeboats. — K. Moore

NEWS BITTS VIKING CRUISES BACKS OFF U.S. PLANS

uropean cruise company Viking River Cruises pulled back from plans to enter the U.S. market, notifying potential host communities on the Mississippi River that it had broken off talks to build boats in the U.S. “Viking has terminated current discussions to build vessels in a U.S. shipyard for Mississippi River and U.S. coastal cruising. As details were being refined, it became apparent the economics did not meet Viking’s goals,” company officials said in a letter to city officials of Hannibal, Mo., and Fort Madison, Iowa. “We’re very disappointed,” said Hannibal city manager Jeff LaGarce, who had estimated Viking boats could bring 30,000 visitors annually. “I have to believe they’ll be revisiting this. This would have been a big deal for our community.” In 2015 Switzerland-based Viking announced plans for six 300-passenger vessels to be built in U.S. yards, at $90 to $100 million each, and homeported at New Orleans. — Dale K. DuPont

cientists who helped pioneer ballast water treatment at the University of Maryland are pulling out of testing commercial ballast water management systems (BWMS), saying a lack of standardized approaches and oversight “is undermining the fundamental goal of national and international policies to prevent the introduction of environmentally and economically destructive invasive species.” The Maritime Environment Resource Center (MERC) established in 2008 is part of the first Coast Guard-designated independent laboratory for testing and certifying ballast water management systems. “It’s a shame because we’re getting close to a solution,” said MERC director Mario Tamburri, who has worked with the Coast Guard and helped develop testing protocols for years. But as the Coast Guard moves now to certify more commercial treatment systems, researchers see too many shortcomings. Both the International Maritime Organization G8 Guidelines

NEWS BITTS CAPTAIN, STEPSON LOST IN MISSISSIPPI TOWBOAT SINKING

towboat captain and his stepson perished when the 66', 1,400-hp Ricky Robinson operated by Wepfer Marine sank near mile marker 733 on the Mississippi River. Keith Pigrem, 35, got off a brief mayday call as the boat sank around 11:42 a.m. on Dec. 8. A search along 324 miles of the river failed to find the men. Okie Moore Diving & Salvage Co., St. Charles, Mo., raised the boat Dec. 17 from 65'of water near mile marker 731. The body of deckhand Anquavious Jamison, 19, of Memphis, Tenn., was recovered with the vessel. The Coast Guard and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the accident. — K. Moore 16

MERC

University of Maryland drops ballast water testing The Maritime Environment Resource Center at the University of Maryland has worked since 2008 developing ballast water treatment.

and Coast Guard laboratory certification testing process “have resulted in significant uncertainties about the quality and value of test results,” the MERC scientists wrote in a prepared statement announcing the decision. As a specific example, the scientists say both the Coast Guard and IMO allow test facilities to ignore live larvae of zebra mussels and other mollusks, eggs of various species, and large algae. The rationale: the organisms often do not move on their own, “and under current regulations can be presumed dead,” the Maryland group said. Zebra mussels “are the poster child that started us down this path 20 years ago” when they were introduced in ballast water, said Tamburri. In cases when researchers find live mussel eggs in samples of treated water, “in 24 hours they all hatch … on discharge they are still viable.” But under guidelines those water samples could still pass. After about 18 months of raising concerns, the MERC researchers decided they could not in good conscience continue testing ballast water systems for industry clients. “As an academic based scientific program we’re based on integrity. We as a university can’t keep doing this,” said Tamburri. “We can’t keep taking contracts and not saying anything.” The group will complete currently contracted testing work before suspending that part of the program. While MERC is pulling back from certification testing, it will continue to work on the ballast water problem. “MERC remains committed to contributing constructively in future efforts to revise the process for certification of BWMSes at the national and international level,” the researchers wrote, “with the objective of improv-

ing upon current BWMS test methods, approaches, and consistency to achieve the fundamental goal of minimizing the risk of invasive species. — K. Moore

Oregon tour boat captain’s license suspended again

he captain of the Portland Spirit tour boat was hit with a second license suspension by the Coast Guard for another incident involving recreational boaters on the Willamette River. Capt. Lowell Gillespie Jr. lost his Merchant Mariner Credential for three months for failing to avoid rowers during a regatta Oct. 29. There were no injuries and no passengers were aboard the 150' Oregon tour boat. “I crossed the path of some sculls that were racing. They were on my starboard side, and I just misjudged,” Capt. Gillespie told WorkBoat. He said he avoided other racers at least four times earlier in the day. He expects to be back at work in mid-February. “Captain Gillespie thought he had the normal amount of time between racers. I thought he should have waited,” said Dan Yates, president of Portland River Cruises, who suspended Gillespie from his job for 90 days. But Yates said he’s also asked the Coast Guard to “start proactively managing the river” for user conflicts. In August Gillespie’s MMC was suspended for a month over a summer 2015 incident when he maneuvered the Portland Spirit through an unexpectedly large crowd of recreational boaters blocking the channel during a festival. In both cases Coast Guard officials also faulted event organizers. — Dale K. DuPont

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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Inland Waterways

Shell Game

During the campaign, President Trump promised a $1 trillion infrastructure package. What would it mean for the inland waterways?

By David Krapf, Editor in Chief

t the 2017 International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans in December, three officials from the inland waterways industry discussed how a $1 trillion infrastructure package — one of President Trump’s campaign promises — could affect the inland waterways. Will the $8 billion backlog in lock and dam rehabilitation/construction be addressed? How would the priorities be chosen, and where would those projects be located? More importantly, how would they be funded?

WorkBoat: What does the waterways industry need? Matt Woodruff, vice president of public and government affairs, Kirby Corp.: We need a safe, reliable, and efficient national system, and I put the emphasis on a national system of inland waterways that will meet the nation’s transportation needs of today and those of the future. We need to invest in the system to keep it reliable. In some cases we have to become more efficient in order to maintain the competitive advantage of www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Army Corps of Engineers

Plans to build Olmsted Locks and Dam began in 1995. Olmsted is finally expected to open during 2018.

American farmers and manufacturers as our global competitors become more efficient. If we stay the same, we fall behind. WB: What will be in Trump’s infrastructure plan? Paul Rohde, vice president, Waterways Council Inc.: A trillion dollars in infrastructure is what Trump was talking about last fall. It really resonated with people. A Gallup poll in January (2017) showed that 69 percent of Americans put infrastructure as the most important campaign issue that President Trump had. He has run into a little bit of a buzz saw of going from a popular campaign promise to understanding the bureaucracy in Capitol Hill and being bogged down with that legislative process. He put together a task force to look at priorities and I’m proud to say that inland rivers were in there from the beginning. So our capital development plan has been in that mix along with a lot of other projects. But the challenge that we have is where will that trillion dollars come from. He only wants to spend $200 billion in public funds. Woodruff: The reality is we don’t really have a lot of details other than that it’s huge, it’s a trillion dollars. We’ve heard it said many times that it’s going to be $200 billion in public money coupled with $800 billion in private investment. And we’ve heard a lot, certainly early on, about what

Paul Rohde, vice president, Waterways Council Inc.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Ingram Barge Company

Matt Woodruff, vice president of public and government affairs, Kirby

WCI

Kirby Corp.

we call P3s — public private partnerships. But the reality is we don’t know what the plan is. It depends on whom you ask and when you ask them. I’ve had people say the inland waterways are absolutely a core component of the infrastructure plan. And then two weeks later somebody says you guys are out of it, we don’t have time, we’re going to focus on other stuff. What we have to recognize is that the president’s infrastructure plan, and I believe there will be one, presents an opportunity for a transformational change in the way we prosecute inland waterways construction. We have an opportunity to reexamine the sources and methods of funding and try to eliminate some of the inefficiencies that has plagued us for the last several decades. Daniel Mecklenborg, chief legal officer and secretary, Ingram Barge Company: As Matt said, President Trump wants a one-trillion-dollar investment but the administration seems to be backing away from public-private partnerships as a funding mechanism. And one of President Trump’s advisors, Gary Cohn, has floated a seven-cent federal gas tax hike as opposed to a P3 arrangement. The overall timeline continues to slip, as President Trump currently does not want it directly linked to a tax reform initiative. And despite strong bipartisan interest on the Hill, it seems infrastructure is a 2018 item and could slip to the second or third quarter.

Daniel Mecklenborg, chief legal officer and secretary, Ingram Barge Company

WB: What is the industry’s plan? Mecklenborg: Basically we’re proposing a 10-year, temporary infrastructure investment program. Capital investments only, i.e. construction and major rehab project spending. That’s a total of $8.8 billion in inland waterway system modernization investment. We envision a list of 25 projects that we have presented to the Trump administration and members of Congress. Basically, our position is that 75 percent of the total, that’s $6.6 billion, would come from infrastructure initiative funds such as repatriated foreign sourced income. And $2.2 billion would come from the combination of diesel fuel taxes and hydropower funds, with $1.1 billion from diesel fuel taxes and $1.1 billion from hydropower funds. Under our infrastructure initiative proposal, once construction of a project is started, there should be no restudy of the economics of the project. We believe there needs to be a streamlining of the environmental review process and any other regulatory requirements that impair the efficient construction of projects. And the obligation and expenditure of all funds would be subject to the appropriation process by Congress. The point of that is there has to be changes because there has to be a consistent commitment to fund the project (when it’s started) and do it as efficiently as possible. 19

JonRie Intertech

Decked Out

New Jersey company’s marine winch systems are on tugboats nationwide.

By Kirk Moore, Associate Editor

small New Jersey-based company has grown to be one of the most ubiquitous brands in marine deck equipment, providing everything from basic capstans to winches capable of handling the new generation of 1,200' containerships. Winches from JonRie InterTech LLC are on tugboats in virtually every U.S. port, and in dredges, Navy salvage vessels and yard tugs. With executive offices in Manahawkin, N.J., and a core group of about 15 employees at several manufacturing locations, JonRie typically equips twodozen or more vessels annually, and has a global reach for its service customers. For company founder and president Brandon Durar, it’s the culmination of a nearly 40-year career that got started when he was a college kid

from the Jersey Shore just looking for a job. “I felt like if I could get up to North Jersey to work, I could go to school too,” said Durar, who began college close to home in Monmouth County, N.J., and went on to study engineering at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. With no experience or prior family connection to the maritime industry, Durar simply applied for a job opening with Almon Johnson, a New Jersey deck equipment company that hired him in 1980 to help with their new contract to supply winches for Navy salvage vessels. Over the next few years Durar earned degrees in mechanical engineering with support from the company, which also assigned him to jobs working with New York Harbor tugboat companies. “It was a great opportunity to get out of the

JonRie InterTech

JonRie winches are on the rotortug Trident that Master Boat Builders built for Seabulk Towing.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

JonRie InterTech

JonRie winches on the ship assist tug Independent, built for Marine Towing of Tampa by Washburn & Doughty.

JonRie InterTech

office” and learn firsthand how tug operations worked, Durar recalled. It was also a time of labor upheaval in the harbor, as tugboat crews went on strike in response to owners’ attempts to reduce crewing requirements. “Ship docking back then was totally different. They didn’t have bow winches,” said Durar. The tugs had crews up to seven, and the companies leaned on the unions to cut costs, eliminating the traditional cooks’ jobs and some deckhand slots to get the crews down to four. With the labor turmoil and crew turnover, the companies needed more help with repairs, maintenance and training, and Durar spent a good part of the 1980s on the waterfront. He was promoted to chief engineer and then general manager, as the family-owned company was finally sold to an investment group in the late 1990s. “At the end of the day, they didn’t know what to do with a deck equipment company,” Durar said of the new owners. He stayed on for almost two years, and could see more consolidation happening in the sector as the turn of the century approached. “The shipyards seemed to be buying everything at the time,” he said. Longtime equipment manufacturers on the East and Gulf coasts sold their operations. In 1997, the 75-year-old New England Trawler Equipment Co., a manufacturer of specialty marine deck

A JonRie winch on the Bisso ASD tractor tug Becky S.

machinery, was sold. “Once they purchased these companies, their service fell by the wayside,” said Durar. While watching the changes, Durar thought about his own professional future: “What do you do when you’re 43, 44 years old?” The answer was to launch his own venture in 2000. “I felt there would be a need on the East Coast,” said Durar, for a company that could “understand the boats, understand the needs.” BUILDING WINCHES “We start our own fabrication in Pusan (South Korea) and bring them over,” said Durar. In the U.S., JonRie has a fabricating shop in Union, N.J., does machining work in Pennsylvania, and builds electrical panels in Mississippi. “We design the winch, work with the naval architects, design all the controls … we build everything in-house” with about a year from order to delivery, he said. “In a good year maybe we’ll do 24 to 30 boats,” with more than 250 tugs equipped since 2000, said Durar. Everything starts with basic designs built to specific customer needs. Typical machinery prices range from around $50,000 for a capstan winch to $750,000 for the biggest double-drum towing setups. “Our strength is the ability to know what winch system to install on your

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

tug, how to install from winch loading to electrical to hydraulic piping,” said Durar. “Then we design a system to work on your tug, and the final part is to commission the system and train the crew.” For ship assist, docking, escort service and barge handling, JonRie builds to line pulls up to 600,000 lbs., in single brake models to 300,000 lbs., and double brake models for escort work to 900,000 lbs. Tow winches are built to line pulls up to 800,000 lbs., with single and double brake models to 450,000 lbs. and 900,000 lbs. For barges, the company builds deck winches and hose reels. Hydraulic power units and control systems are another business line. JonRie is looking to get another concept onto an escort tug: a staple torque aligning winch system that can turn into the load, create more turning force in an emergency — and give uplift to the tug to prevent capsizing. In 2007 naval architect Greg Castleman talked with Durar about the concept of a rotating fairlead for an escort winch. Durar came up with a winch and staple to rotate as a single unit. Conceptual engineering by JonRie showed how moving the pivot point during an escort would increase turning forces, correcting the ship’s course faster and also reducing the tug’s angle of heel. Working with Capt. Ron Burchett of Burchett Marine and Tug Master 21

JonRie Intertech computer models from naval architects Glosten in Seattle, JonRie affirmed its design. Burchett brought two tug test models to the test tanks at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., for 158 test runs over two days. The results showed steering forces to be as much as 35% greater with the rotating staple, and much safer for the escort tugs with uplifting force against the danger of capsizing. A patent was granted in 2015 for the rotating escort winch, and JonRie is looking for a partner for the first installation of what the company calls “the maximum solution” for high-speed escort work. Durar began his career at Almon Johnson designing towing systems for Navy ARS-50 rescue and salvage vessels, and provided support for other Navy tugs. That relationship has continued with JonRie equipping Navy yard tugs and upgrading older towing systems. In the first days of 2018,

Durar was bound for Bahrain and then Honolulu to provide support for Navy salvage vessels. A 2011 operating agreement alliance with Femco Holdings LLC, Punxsutawney, Pa., and its Gulf Coast affiliate Spencer Harris brought in the offshore drilling and deck equipment sector as another market for design and repair work. Designing and building dredging systems is another line of work for customers like New Jerseybased Donjon Marine Co. Inc. One recent high-profile project has been equipping the Trident, the first rotortug built for the U.S. market and one of WorkBoat’s Significant Boats of 2017. In January 2017 Master Boat Builders, Bayou La Batre, Ala., delivered the Trident, the first of three 98'6"×43' 6"×15' 7" Advanced Rotortug (ART 80-98US) tugs to Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Seabulk Towing. Designed by Robert Allan Ltd.

(RAL), Vancouver, British Columbia, the Trident and its sister tugs feature a triangular layout of three Schottel Z-drives, and JonRie towing/escort winches. The boat’s mission of escorting liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers and other demanding jobs calls for maximum maneuverability and safety. On the Trident, the forward hawser escort winch is a Series 230 with 450' of Samson Saturn-12 2-5/8"×8" HMPE rope. On the aft deck, a Series 500 combination towing and hawser winch is outfitted with 2,100' of 2.25" wire rope and 450' of Saturn-12 2-5/8"×8" HMPE rope. Like tug designers and builders, JonRie is called on to design systems to handle the new generation of neoPanamax containerships. New assist and escort tugs, like the 100'×40', 6,770-hp Capt. Brian A. McAllister, are already pushing the design envelope.

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JonRie InterTech

“They’re talking about 7,000 or 8,000 (horsepower). Where are you going to push on a ship with that much power? I think the answer is more tugs,” said Durar. Durar attended a tractor tug training school to gain more understanding as a designer of the industry’s evolving needs. With more power comes the risk of making mistakes, he said. “Are you ripping a bollard off or poking a hole in the ship?” he said. “The (training) simulators are great. Every time you make a wrong move you go through the side of the ship.” To Durar, the challenges were evident when the 1,200'×152'×55' CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt, one in a new series of 14,414-TEU containerships, debuted at East Coast ports last September. “Imagine that on a windy day,” he said. “Do you want one tug pressing that hard on one side of the vessel?”

A JonRie concept for a rotating escort winch was tested at the Port Revel Shiphandling Training Center in France.

That’s one reason why Durar thinks there will be a continuing need for more tugs and deck equipment to handle new supersized ships. The market may be a little slow now, but that was preceded by tug companies pushing to start new boats before the transition between Tier 3 and Tier 4 emission standards, he suggested.

“We don’t really follow the economy. It’s either feast or famine,” said Durar. “The last time around, everyone wanted to lay a keel.” Meanwhile JonRie is doing some building of its own. By fall 2018 the company plans to have its corporate engineering under one roof with new offices in Manahawkin.

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Excursion Vessels

Pleasure Seekers Excursion vessels take part in the passenger vessel-building boom.

By Ken Hocke, Senior Editor

eople like the water. Even many of those who don’t enjoy being in the water are enthusiastic about being on the water. Excursion and tour boats offer passengers the opportunity to do that and to see sights that are impossible to experience from shore. WEST COAST VIEW All American Marine (AAM), Bellingham, Wash., moved to a bigger facility in 2017 and its efforts are paying off. “I can confirm that AAM does have a healthy backlog and is actively signing new contracts,” said the yard’s vice president of business development, Joe Hudspeth. At the end of 2017, AAM delivered the 500-passenger aluminum excursion vessel Salish Explorer to Argosy Cruises, Seattle. The 125'×34' Teknicraft Design Subchapter K vessel is operating on Elliott Bay in Puget Sound. Argosy liked the value in terms of price, maintenance, and functionality that was offered in the selection of an aluminum hull versus steel, which is more common in the company’s fleet. “The value of Teknicraft and All American Marine design teams working closely together to build us a quality boat, made the design and construction

process absolutely seamless,” Kevin Clark, president and CEO of Argosy, said. The Salish Explorer’s main and second decks give passengers panoramic views through windows from both the main deck and second deck cabins. The second deck aft viewing veranda and bow foredeck provide visitors with views of Mount Rainier and the Seattle skyline. The upper deck features a 360° view, with an elevated observation and ceremony platform. Cabin floor plans are versatile, with both fixed and configurable interior seating, elevator accessibility, and fully equipped service bars. The vessel is powered with twin Scania DI 16-080M engines, with ship’s service power from Northern Lights 65-kW and 40-kW generators. Boats that employ hybrid systems are becoming more popular in the passenger vessel industry. And AAM is building a new 128'×30' hybrid-electric 600-passenger aluminum monohull vessel Enhydra for the Red and White Fleet in San Francisco. The Enhydra will be the first aluminum-hulled, lithium-ion battery-electric hybrid vessel built from the keel up under Coast Guard Subchapter K passenger vessel regulations and the latest guidelines for structural fire protection when it’s www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

All American Marine

New 500-passenger excursion vessel operates in the Seattle area.

Gladding-Hearn

delivered this spring. The vessel is specifically designed for harbor tours of San Francisco Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge. Passengers on board the Enhydra will have views of the bay and skyline from each of the three decks. The second level offers a full wrap around viewing deck with access to the enlarged bow foredeck. The top deck is completely open and offers plenty of outdoor seating. AAM partnered with BAE Systems to design and integrate the complete battery-electric hybrid system. BAE will supply its HybriDrive propulsion system that includes a generator, control system, and AC electric traction motor. The generator will mount to a variable speed Cummins QSL9 diesel engine, producing 410 hp at 2,100 rpm. The motor generator offers diesel-electric operation of the AC traction motor, which is coupled directly to the propulsion shaft. With this

The second of three new 165'x34'x12.8', 599-passenger sightseeing vessels for New York.

configuration, torque is immediately available for the propeller and the speed can be precisely controlled without the need for a reduction gear. The hybrid system will also utilize battery power from two 80-kW lithium-ion battery packs. The Corvus Energy batteries are supplied under its next generation Orca Energy line. The HybriDrive system can automatically utilize full electric battery operation at slower speeds and when maneuvering in and out of the harbor. At higher

speeds, the generator will automatically engage and augment the additional power demands of the traction motor. The battery system is sufficient to meet the entire demand of the vessel’s hotel load while at the same time providing silent and emission-free operation of the propulsion system during an evening sunset cruise. AAM also has a 149-passenger whale watcher underway for Puget Sound Express. Bay Welding Services delivered

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Excursion Vessels

Ribcraft

its first catamaran in 2017 — the 49'6"×17'6"×2' Atlin, an aluminum catamaran high-speed passenger boat for Juneau Tours LLC capable of carrying 49 passengers and three crew. The 1,400-hp Atlin has a top speed of 49 mph at 5,900 rpm and cruises at 32 mph at 4,600 rpm fully loaded. That’s with four F350 Yamaha outboards mounted on the transom. The engines were the power choice primarily for maintenance reasons.

If a diesel inboard needs to be repaired or replaced, the Atlin could be out of action for an extended period of time. But with two or three outboards sitting in the warehouse, you can do an engine swap overnight and not miss a trip, Bay Welding officials said. EAST COAST SIGHTS Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Somerset, Mass., delivered the second of three 165'×34'×12.8', 599-passen-

41' Ribcraft 12.5 RIB for Cape Rib Tours runs whale watching expeditions, sightseeing tours and thrill rides. It‘s powered by three 350-hp Mercury Verado outboards.

ger sightseeing vessels to Circle Line Sightseeing Cruises in New York City in 2017. The shipyard delivered three sisterships to the company in 2009. Designed by DeJong and Lebet, Jacksonville, Fla., the cabins on the Circle Line Staten Island are equipped with large double-glazed windows, designed to offer enhanced views of the New York skyline in any weather. Interior accommodations include space for loose seating and tables for 275 passengers in the main cabin. The second deck has seating and tables for another 200 passengers indoors and outside seating for 88 passengers. Aft of the pilothouse on the third deck is outdoor seating for 84 passengers under a fixed canopy. With a top speed of 14 knots, the vessel is powered by twin Cummins QSK38M1, Tier 3 engines, delivering a total of 2,600 hp at 1,800 rpm. The engines turn Hung Shen 60", 5-bladed bronze propellers through ZF W3355 gear boxes.

“They build a good product.”

Photo: Hy-Line Cruises

“The camaraderie of the yard workers at Gladding-Hearn makes you feel that you’re part of the team, not just an outsider. They include you in decisions, and when you ask a question, you get an answer; there’s no hidden agenda. They build a good product.” Frederic “Skip” Scudder, President Hyannis Harbor Tours, Dba Hy-Line Cruises

Gladding-Hearn all-aluminum construction, Incat Crowther design, LOA 154´, beam 35´, draft 8´, 493 passengers, top speed 34+ knots. It takes experience to integrate custom details and guaranteed performance, backed by dependable customer service. All at a price you can afford. If you are looking to build a new boat or upgrade an old one, we can offer complete design and construction, from port security vessels and pilot boats to high-speed ferries. To learn more call Peter Duclos at 508 676-8596 or visit: www.gladding-hearn.com.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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ON THE WAYS

The latest Olympic-class ferry for Washington State Ferries will enter service this fall.

he fourth of four 362'3"×83'2"×18' Olympic-class car ferries for Washington State Ferries was christened in early January. The christening marked the 1,500-passenger, 144-car Suquamish’s final stage of construction and its preparation for sea trials. Built at the Jesse Co.’s fabrication facility near the Port of Tacoma, Wash., the 1,600-short-ton top half of the new ferry was brought to Vigor’s Seattle shipyard in August where it was mated to the hull. “The state’s wise decision to build these four Olympicclass ferries in succession resulted in cost reductions and quality improvements in each successive build,” said Vigor’s CEO Frank Foti. With a displacement of 4,384 LT, the new ferry is powered by twin EMD 12-710G7C-T3 engines, producing 3,000 hp each. The mains are connected to two Rolls-Royce, 4-bladed, 138"-dia., stainless steel, controllable pitch props through Falk 44×14DMH2S marine gears with 4.986:1 reduction ratios. The new ferry’s running speed is 17 knots. The Suquamish will begin sea trials in mid-2018 and start carrying passengers beginning in the fall. The new ferry will operate on the Mukilteo/Clinton route in the summer and serve as a maintenance relief vessel in the winter, filling in when other vessels are out of service. Ship’s service power comes from three Volvo-Penta diesels with Newage alternators, sparking 300 kW of electrical power each. Control responsibilities are handled by a ZF Marine 28

propulsion control system with Rockwell Allen Bradley SLC 500 PLC systems. The Suquamish also features a RollsRoyce SV650-3 FCP rotary vane steering system. Capacities include 79,510 gals. of fuel oil and 17,108 gals potable water. Suquamish is the fourth funded Olympic-class ferry to replace the aging, midcentury-era Evergreen State-class vessels. The first Olympic-class vessel, Tokitae, joined the Mukilteo/Clinton route in 2014. The second, Samish, began service on the Anacortes/San Juan Islands route in 2015. Chimacum, the third vessel in the class, entered service on the Seattle/Bremerton route in 2017. — Ken Hocke

Chesapeake Shipbuilding to build new class of 94' push tugs for Vane Brothers

hesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md., has landed a contract with Baltimore-based Vane Brothers Company to build a new class of push tugs. The order calls for the design and construction of four 94'×34'×10'6" vessels with operating drafts of 8'6" intended for lakes, bays and sounds service. The tugs will have seven crewmembers each, with large, modern private and semiprivate quarters. “The promise we make to our customers and crews is that we utilize the safest and most effective means to transport petroleum products wherever the need arises,” said Vane Brothers president C. Duff Hughes. “These new Sub-M compliant pushboats, ordered through a top-flight designwww.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Washington State Ferries

Washington state christens fourth Olympic-class ferry

94' boats will be part of a new class of push tugs.

larly, drawings for the various systems must be stamped individually, meeting requirements for redundancies in the electrical, steering and hydraulic systems. Propulsion will be provided by twin Caterpillar 3515 engines providing a total of 3,000 hp and will feature open wheels with flanking rudders. The boats will be designed and built in compliance with Coast Guard Subchapter M requirements. “We are designing, from the ground up, a compliant boat that is easy to build, operate and maintain,” said McGee. The advantage of having an inhouse design team is that problems can be solved swiftly during construction, Chesapeake Shipbuilding

build firm right here in Maryland, help ensure that we continue to deliver the highest quality service with the most up-to-date fleet in shallow waters and protected harbors.” The shipyard’s design and engineering team is headed by Steven McGee. He is a naval architect and marine engineer with 21years in the Coast Guard where he had a front-row seat to the development of the new requirements for formerly uninspected vessels. He ticked off the necessary changes in the design-build process now that Subchapter M has taken effect. “It starts with a plan review by a licensed professional engineer before construction begins,” McGee said. The structural design must comply with American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) standards for vessels under 90 meters. The design must meet stability standards including towline tripping. Simi-

according to McGee. Chesapeake and Vane have been building boats together for a decade. This order represents hulls 16-20 built at the yard. “Vane Brothers is wonderful to deal with,” said Charles Robertson, president and CEO of Chesapeake Shipbuilding. “We are pleased they chose us to work with them on this new project.” The new tugs will be equipped with conventional shafts, rudders, and flanking rudders. — Kathy Bergren Smith

BOATBUILDING BITTS

Armstrong Marine

New 40' tour boat was delivered in December.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Refurbished 29' dive team boat for the state of Alabama.

Silver Ships

rmstrong Marine, Port Angeles, Wash., recently delivered the 40'×15.6' high tunnel aluminum catamaran tour boat Mirai to Honolulu-based Hawaii Experiences. Designed by Armstrong, the new 49-passenger boat is powered by four Evinrude G-2 E-TEC outboards, packing a total of 1,000 hp, and governed by E-TEC controls. The power package gives the new tour boat a running speed of 47 mph. The steering system is by Sea Star. Other features include two heads, a Garmin electronics package, and a three-person crew. The catamaran is USCG certified, Subchapter T. Silver Ships recently refurbished a 29'×9' Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) dive team boat the yard originally designed and built in 1992. The

aluminum vessel has been in service since that time. ALDOT came to Silver Ships for updates and repairs and that were completed in November. The boat is used to facilitate the inspection of bridges both above and below the water throughout the state and serves as a platform to support diving operations. The vessel was configured to contain all the necessary dive and safety gear for the team to complete its missions. Main propulsion comes from twin 250-hp Mercury Verado outboards. Other changes included a new navigation system, featuring a Humminbird Solix 15, all new LED lighting throughout the vessel, and generator and air conditioning. Silver Ships officials said only the aluminum house and hull were retained. Everything else is new. The boat’s life

On TheWays

Austal USA

Austal USA’s facility with two LCSes (right) and two EPFs (upper right) at the dock.

Metal Shark has moved into the pilot boat market.

Metal Shark

was extended 25 years. Louisiana-based boatbuilder Metal Shark has set its sights on the pilot boat market with a range of customconfigurable pilot offerings and two new pilot boats currently under construction. Metal Shark is building a 45' Defiant pilot boat for the Virgin Islands Port Authority at its Jeanerette, La., production facility. At its 25-acre shipyard in nearby Franklin, La., Metal Shark is building a 64' Defiant pilot boat for the Brazos Pilots Association, Freeport, Texas. The next-generation pilot boats were designed by Metal Shark’s in-house design team and combine proven running surfaces with modern, crew-friendly, pilot-focused features including flush decks, pilot boarding platforms, and multiple fendering options. In addition to the 45' and 64' models now in production, a 55' Defiant pilot boat is also available. Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., met with Navy officials at the shipyard in December onboard the 338' expeditionary fast transport vessel City of Bismarck to make the delivery of the vessel (EPF 9) official. The City of Bismarck was the second ship in the program that Austal delivered in 2017, with the Navy taking delivery of Yuma (EPF 8) earlier in the year. The EPF program provides the Navy with high-speed intra-theater transport capability. The City of Bismarck is an aluminum catamaran capable of transporting 600 tons over 1,200 nautical miles at an average speed of 35 knots. It is designed to operate in austere ports and waterways, too shallow and narrow for the larger ships in the surface fleet, providing added flexibility worldwide. The ship’s flight deck can also support flight operations for a wide variety of manned and unmanned aircraft, including a CH-53 Super Stallion. The delivery marks the ninth EPF ship delivered to the Navy as part of a contract for 12 ships worth over $1.9 billion. Three additional Spearhead-class EPFs are under construction at Austal USA. Burlington (EPF 10) is in final assembly and

modules for Puerto Rico (EPF 11) and EPF 12 are under construction in Austal’s module manufacturing facility. In addition to the EPF program, Austal is also under contract to build Independence-variant littoral combat ships (LCS) for the Navy. The 421'6"×103.7' Manchester (LCS 14), the seventh LCS built by Austal USA, successfully completed acceptance trials Dec. 15 in the Gulf of Mexico. Fincantieri subsidiary Vard Holdings Ltd. — a global designer and shipbuilder of specialized vessels — has signed a contract worth approximately 270 million euros (US$319 million) with the French cruise company Ponant for the design and construction of a luxury polar expedition cruise vessel, with delivery in the second quarter of 2021. Vard currently has four other small-sized luxury expedition cruise vessels for Ponant in its orderbook. The acquisition of these ships marked the entrance of the Norwegian company in the cruise sector. Between 2010 and 2015 Fincantieri delivered four small-sized extra-luxury cruise vessels to Ponant — Le Boreal, L’Austral, Le Soleal and Le Lyrial, all built at the shipyard in Ancona, Italy. The unique and state-of-the-art electric hybrid expedition vessel with LNG has been developed by Ponant, Stirling Design International, Aker Arctic and Vard. The vessel is specially designed to take passengers to polar destinations such as the geographic North Pole (90° North Latitude), the Weddell Sea, the Ross Sea and Peter I Island. The unit, classified as Polar Class 2, will fulfill the highest standards for environmentally friendly and safe operations. It is the first electric hybrid cruise vessel with icebreaker characteristics and dual fuel propulsion, featuring high-capacity batteries and LNG storage on board. It will also be equipped with two helicopters in in-house hangars. The expedition vessel will be about 30,000 gross tons and will have a cruise speed of 15 knots. The boat will accommodate 270 passengers in 135 staterooms, in addition to a crew of 180. www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

tanley Aluminum Boats, Ontario, Canada, delivered a new 31'×10' multimission boat to Charleston County Rescue in South Carolina recently. The boat responds to a wide range of emergencies that include hurricanes and flooding. Launched in December, the boat was developed by Stanley in cooperation with the Charleston Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, which includes first responders, EMTs, and paramedics. The new boat is powered by twin Yamaha 250-hp outboards and can travel at 44 mph to quickly assist victims who are not within reach of land-based units. It can operate in as little as 20" of water. Stanley president Bill Connor pioneered the company’s fire rescue designs. “We’re excited, and proud, to

Stanley Aluminum Boats

Stanley Aluminum Boats delivers multimission 31-footer to South Carolina

31' multimission boat can hit speeds up to 44 mph.

also offer this as a combination vessel that can be equipped with a pump for those agencies that need marine fire suppression capabilities,” said Connor. “As more demands are placed on fire service everywhere, we are doing our utmost to support responders with the modern boats that they need now. That’s why this design can be used in tough weather conditions in many locations.” Stanley engineers created a wheelhouse design that provides rescuers with protection from the elements, but also provides a fore-and-aft pass-

through to ease onboard crew movement while underway. The boat is also equipped with dive doors, diver safety rails, push-knees, lifting davit, and a tow-post for maximum utility. It features Stanley’s 72"-wide Bullnose bow gate that enables crews to retrieve persons or objects from the water, and to load equipment from shore, making Charleston’s boat beachable. The 10' beam offers maximum stability and comes with a tri-axle trailer for saltwater launches. The boat is equipped with advanced electronics. — K. Hocke

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Cruise Control

From overnight cruises to ferries, the passenger

By Dale K. DuPont, Correspondent

lass tops, fast bottoms, new generation riverboats, reconditioned older ones and hybrids are adding sizzle to a passenger vessel market that’s also attracting interest from shipyards that want a piece of the action. “The passenger vessel and passenger ferry segment is super hot right now,” said Joe Hudspeth, vice president of business development for All American Marine, Bellingham, Wash., which has several projects underway. “The industry at large is experiencing great economic conditions. As a result many operators are looking at buying or building new vessels,” said Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) executive director John Groundwater. “Several shipyards who were once members of PVA are looking to rejoin the association because they want to re-enter the passenger vessel market.” Austal USA is one of them.

SHIPYARDS EYE THE PASSENGER VESSEL MARKET “Regaining a position in the passenger vessel market is a strategic imperative,” said Larry Ryder, director of business development and customer affairs for the Mobile, Ala., yard that’s currently building ships for the Navy. Austal’s manufacturing facility in Mobile was established in 1999 and initially focused on constructing innovative high-speed ferries, including the Lake Express and the two ferries for Hawaii Superferry, the Alakai and Huakai. The company’s goal is to build on that history for both the Jones Act and international markets. “We are seeing an uptick in the market and believe that demand for ferries will continue to grow as a viable, efficient alternative to land-based travel,” Ryder said. “The reduced costs, improved safety and increased efficiency that result from innovations in vessel design add to the appeal www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Pictured Rocks Cruises

vessel industry is enjoying good times.

Passenger vessel operators such as Pictured Rocks Cruises on Lake Superior had another good year in 2017.

department spokesman Tim Hass. Armstrong Marine USA Inc. will build the 92'×26'10"×11'6" aluminum catamaran at its Swansboro, N.C., yard. The boat’s four Caterpillar C18 engines and four DJ172hp Thrustmaster waterjets will give it a 26-28-knot cruising speed. Service is due to start in July. A North Carolina state study showed there will be enough business to sustain two boats all summer, Hass said. “We have to convince people to leave their cars behind and still enjoy Ocracoke.” Bruce King, vice president of engineering at Elliott Bay Design Group, Seattle, said the ferry was “more than a fast catamaran” and built to heavier scantlings than similar excursion boats. It has a higher freeboard — loaded draft freeboard is 7'6" above the waterline — versus other excursion boats with a freeboard 2'6"-3' less. “We don’t want those waves pounding the deck underneath or coming over the bow,” he said. A little spray is no doubt part of the appeal of Hellgate Jetboat Excursions on the Rogue River, Grants Pass, Ore. This year the company expects between 78,000 and 80,000 visitors, close to pre-recession levels. “Our market is staying strong

Hellgate Jetboat on the Rogue River in Oregon expects between 78,000 and 80,000 visitors in 2018, close to pre-recession levels.

Hellgate Jetboat Excursions

of ferry transportation. We also see opportunities for high-speed transportation solutions in the offshore oil and gas industry.” On the more leisurely side of the market, Entertainment Cruises this summer will debut a 200-passenger, 140'×31'×9'5" glass enclosed dining yacht on the Chicago River. The river “has really undergone a multidecade transformation,” said Dan Russell, regional vice president of the country’s largest dining and sightseeing cruise company. One piece that’s been missing is a dinner cruise. “We believe this will fill a void just from the inquiries alone.” Completion of the Chicago Riverwalk on the main branch of the Chicago River inspired the company to

consider adding a glass boat similar to but lower profile than ones they operate in New York City and Washington, D.C. The boat needed to fit under Chicago’s bridges and have outdoor space on the steel-hulled boat that will operate year-round. Designed by DeJong & Lebet, Jacksonville, Fla., the vessel is being built by J&M Metal Works, Green Cove Springs, Fla. Describing it as a very unique boat, naval architect Andy Lebet said the challenge was maximizing space for passenger use. Air draft is limited to 16'6" to clear bridges. The galley and heads are below. “Your prime real estate becomes the main deck,” he said. The vessel will be powered by two 425-hp John Deere 13.5-liter diesel engines connected to Twin Disc marine gears. The engines will turn 42"-dia. propellers for a maximum speed of 1011 knots. Beams every 8' will support 800-to-900-lb. panels of 1½" to 1¾" thick glass. Another boat designed for its surroundings is North Carolina’s first passenger-only ferry that will run between Hatteras and Ocracoke Village. Because of shoaling, the current car ferry can take twice as long as scheduled with two- to three-hour waits in the summer, said state transportation

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

lternative sources of power are tempting more and more operators. One gauge was a session on batteries at last year’s annual Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) convention that attracted wallto-wall attendees, said John Groundwater, the trade group’s executive director. Several green-related topics are on this year’s agenda. “Everybody seems to have a really big interest in the hybrids,” said Andy Lebet of DeJong & Lebet naval architects in Jacksonville, Fla. He noted that the cost of lithium ion batteries has gone down. Washington State Ferries is considering converting to battery propulsion its three Jumbo Mark II ferries. The ferries run on the busiest routes and already have diesel-electric power. They also would adapt their corresponding terminals (Seattle/Bainbridge and Edmonds/ Kingston). Gov. Jay Inslee’s recently released budget proposal has $600,000 in it for the project. “We have quite a bit of interest in hybrids,” especially battery hybrid ferries that reduce carbon emissions, said Bruce King, vice president of engineering, Elliott Bay Design Group, Seattle, which is studying hybrid powered ferries for the state. Operators see marketing value in a cleaner footprint, plus battery sizes are getting smaller and charging efficiency is improving, said Joe Hudspeth, vice president of business development for All Ameri-

Hornblower Cruises & Events

HYBRIDS ARE INCREASINGLY IN THE POWER ‘MIX’

The Hornblower Hybrid was the nation’s first vessel powered by diesel, hydrogen, batteries, wind and solar energy. can Marine, Bellingham, Wash., which has several hybrid projects. The yard expects to deliver in late spring or early summer the 600-passenger Enhydra for the Red and White Fleet, a San Francisco tour boat company. The 128'x30' vessel will be the first aluminumhulled, lithium-ion battery-electric hybrid built from the keel up under Coast Guard Subchapter K regulations. BAE Systems will supply its HybriDrive propulsion system that includes a generator, control system, and AC electric traction motor. The generator will mount to a variable speed Cummins QSL9 diesel engine, producing 410 hp at 2,100 rpm. The hybrid system will also utilize battery power from two 80-kW lithium-ion battery packs. In the fall, All American expects to deliver a 150-passenger, 70'x26'x4'3" aluminum catamaran passenger-only ferry for Kitsap Transit, Bremerton, Wash. It will be the first for Puget Sound. The vessel's battery-diesel hybrid propulsion system will operate like a Prius with no diesel exhaust and noise while passengers load and unload. — D.K. DuPont

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Maximum View & Control Innovative bridge ergonomics

AlphaBridge on the Robert Allan Ltd designed hybrid RotorTugÂŠ RT Evolution

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again,” said Travis Hamlyn, president of Hellgate and CEO of Katanacraft, which builds all Hellgate’s vessels and other aluminum craft for a variety of customers including first responders. Hellgate’s 10 vessels range from 32'-42’, with a 12'-14' beam and carry 60-80 passengers. The boats have three Raptor 6.2 liter engines (just under 1,500 hp) with HamiltonJet HJ213 waterjets. The packages give the boats operating speeds of about 45 mph. On the manufacturing side, they branched out to external customers about eight years ago, Hamlyn said. “The biggest thing we find is that folks are looking for something different.” Fishers Island Ferry District last year added something different to its schedule by partnering with Blackbird Hovercraft for 20-minute rides between New London, Conn., and the New York community in Long Island Sound. “We teamed up with them because

DeJong & Lebet

Entertainment Cruises will debut a 200-passenger, glass-enclosed dining yacht on the Chicago River.

they can provide faster service,” said Geb Cook, district manager for the line with two passenger/car ferries that make the trip in 45 minutes. The hovercraft vessels ran scheduled as well as charter service from April to Columbus Day and expects to offer the service again this year, said Blackbird

that Impress

co-owner Tom Murray, a Long Island resident who started looking into travel options because of a “horrific commute into the city every day.” He was intrigued by hovercraft. He put the idea on hold for a while, then visited manufacturer Vanair Hovercraft in Canada and “fell in love.” His two hovercraft vessels — one 41'×14', the other 36'×14' — have Cummins 350-hp diesels, hydraulic lift fans on either side, burn five-to-seven gallons an hour, ride 20" off the water, and can go 30 knots in flat seas or 2225 if it’s choppy. OVERNIGHT CRUISING MARKET CONTINUES TO GROW One segment of the industry that shows few signs of slowing down is the overnight riverboat and coastal cruising market. American Cruise Lines’ (ACL) new 190-passenger, 342'×59'×8' American Song starts service in the fall on the Mississippi River — the first of five in its Modern Riverboat Series. ACL also will introduce the 175-passenger American Constitution, sister to the American Constellation, in April. With the two new ships, ACL will have 10 cruising U.S. waters. “We don’t have enough space. That’s why we’re building so many boats,” said Charles Robertson, who heads both Guilford, Conn.-based ACL and Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md. With three cruise ships and seven

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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tugboats in his yard, building slots are booked for the next two-and-a-half years. Last year for ACL was “substantially better than 2016,” and 2018 will be substantially better than last, he said. Two refurbished riverboats are being added to the entertainment scene in New Orleans in 2018. Hospitality Enterprises, which also operates the paddlewheeler Creole Queen, recently bought the City of Evansville, a 310'×70'×14', four deck former land-based casino that can hold 3,000. The renamed riverboat Louis Armstrong will sail under charter from its berth on the Mississippi River. Hospitality president Warren Reuther Jr. said he’d been looking for a boat for about two years. “We loved it,” he said. They had to take the stacks off to make it under bridges on the trip south to Conrad Shipyards in Amelia, La., for some renovation to the vessel built by Jeffboat in 1995.

The 310'x70'x14', four-deck former casino boat City of Evansville, renamed the Louis Armstrong, will sail under charter from its berth on the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

They’re going to play jazz — and maybe some blues or other music, and “on weekends, we’ll have a jazz fest,” he said. “It’s not going to be Vegas. It’s going to be jazz New Orleans.” New Orleans Steamboat Co.’s newly named City of New Orleans will join the company’s Natchez on the

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Mississippi for dinner and sightseeing cruises. The 189'×55' diesel-electric powered sternwheeler — formerly the Casino Rock Island — was built in 1991 by Leevac Shipyards (since acquired by Gulf Island Fabrication) and is undergoing some engine and minor mechanical work and interior refurbishment. It’s expected to be done in June, said Matt Dow, assistant marine operations manager. Much farther north, John Madigan, general manager of Pictured Rocks Cruises, Munising, Mich., also is optimistic about the year ahead. “If we could increase 2-4%, that would be a good year for us,” he said. Last year was up 3-5% over the year before for the five-vessel line that tours Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Mindful of America’s obsession with pets, about six years ago they started a landside feature for people with dogs (only service animals are allowed onboard). They have 20 temperaturecontrolled complimentary kennels with water to accommodate pooches while their owners are cruising. “People didn’t want to leave their dogs in the car,” Madigan said. And without somewhere to put their animals, they might not take the trip. Owners can bring their own locks or buy one for $5. The feature has proved so popular that sometimes the kennels are full.

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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Inside Job

Fire resistance and sound absorption are important considerations for your vessel.

By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

here are a lot of things you want to avoid once your boat moves away from the dock and heads out of the harbor. The least onerous is probably engine failure, while at the other end of the “hope this never happens” list includes capsizing and collision. Then there’s the onboard fire. If you are lucky a fire extinguishing system quickly puts it out, or you end up in the water, hopefully wearing a PFD in a life raft. Good seamanship and preventive maintenance should ensure that a capsizing or collision is not a part of your next voyage. But preventing onboard fires starts when building or renovating your boat. Begin by checking how fire resistant the materials in the wheelhouse, accommodations area and galley are. In many cases the answer is not much. Take tugboats for example. Many smaller tugs and even some in the 120' to 140' range have been built with plywood interior paneling with maybe a Formica laminate covering. The nice thing about plywood from a builder’s standpoint is that carpenters are used to working with 4×8 sheets of it. They’ve already gone though the learning curve. Plywood’s problem is that “it’s flammable,” said Hal Hockema, president

and managing principal engineer at Hockema & Whalen Associates, Bend, Ore. “If you have a fire on the boat and it gets into the joinery panels then you are pretty much done.” The fire quickly spreads as it burns its way through wood paneling, wood consoles, bulkheads and bunks. FIRE RESISTANT The solution is fire resistant paneling not made up of wood. That might be a 1"- to 2"-thick panel with a core material between sheet metal and maybe faced with a high-pressure laminate. “Joiner doors are also made to fit that system,” said Hockema. “The doors are metal faced and can be faced with a vinyl.” Jamestown Metal Marine, Boca Raton, Fla., manufactures panels with a stainless steel or aluminum exterior and a mineral wool core. A couple of other manufacturers of non-combustible panels are Panel Specialists Inc., Temple, Texas, which builds panels with a Thermax core and Ayers Composite Panels USA in Theodore, Ala., whose panels have aluminum face sheets and an aluminum honeycomb core. Depending on the panels they may meet SOLAS, Coast Guard or ABS claswww.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

U.S. Coast Guard

In 2013, the 48'x20' towboat Shanon E. Settoon pushed a 154' oil barge across a pipeline south of New Orleans near Lafitte, La., causing the pipeline and tow to explode.

He’s proposed Skydex flooring “a variety of times [to owners of survey and research vessels] but it’s always come out of the proposal because it’s so expensive.” In the end, it comes down to “just where you want to put the money.” Another product that’s been around for years but isn’t used as much as it could be because some designers view it as too expensive, is structural fire protection marine insulation manufactured by CertainTeed, Valley Forge, Pa. Mineral wool, also known as rock wool, is the insulation often used with a vessel’s steel fire barrier bulkheads and its ducting. The problem is mineral wool insulation is very heavy, “about eight pounds per cubic foot,” said Hockema. That weight can be a

liability, causing stability problems, “particularly for smaller overnight passenger vessels with high deckhouses or superstructures.” Having enough insulation in the accommodations area without its weight being an issue is “one of the challenges with structural fire protection,” Hockema said. CertainTeed offers a ceramic blanket-type insulation that is roughly half the weight of mineral wool, while providing about the same level of fire protection. Hockema used CertainTeed ceramic insulation in the mid-1990s when designing a 140'×28' passenger vessel after it became apparent the weight of the mineral wool insulation would adversely affect the boat’s stability.

TAKING A STEP UP

ometimes it’s a relatively simple thing that improves the efficiency of a workboat’s interior space. Take the case of a captain who is not quite tall enough for an unobstructed view out of the wheelhouse. Boatbuilder All American Marine has an answer to this problem. “It’s a unique little feature, something that we offer that a lot of our captains and operators really like to have,” said the company’s vice president of business development Joe Hudspeth. It’s a slide-out step that recesses into the helm console. Captains not blessed with great height simply slide the platform out of the console, stand on it and have much better visibility. When someone taller relieves him or her, the step can be slid back under the console. Another option would be an adjustable

www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

Argosy Cruises

sification standards. These panels are not new to builders and designers of workboats, especially passenger vessels and crewboats. But they are not readily found on many small- to medium-sized vessels that primarily still rely on wood paneling, said Hockema, though some owners of smaller tugs are starting to use the flame-retardant materials, even though ABS rules make it optional for vessels under 500 tons. Besides being fire resistant, most of the panels also have good sound absorption qualities, thus reducing interior noises a crew would otherwise be exposed to. Some panels can be tailored to a vessel’s frequency range by selecting an appropriate panel thickness. Ayers has a new perforated wall panel that reduces a lot of the sound, said Joe Hudspeth, vice president of business development at All American Marine in Bellingham, Wash. “It’s a wall panel that you would use to finish out the interior of a pilothouse and it really helps absorb the sound.” Despite the obvious benefits of nonflammable panels, Hudspeth knows that some boatbuilders refrain from using that type of wall paneling because of cost concerns. “Some people slap up a marine grade plywood interior.” That ignores such pluses as fire resistance benefits and being almost 100% recyclable, and “low maintenance because you don’t have to worry about rot.” Hudspeth also encounters people that build boats who are reluctant to spend money on products that absorb sound and help reduce crew fatigue. One such product is energy absorbing flooring and decking from Skydex Technologies Inc., Centennial, Colo. It’s a “unique egg crate type of structural plastic, an anti-fatigue, sound absorbing flooring. It’s pretty cool stuff,” he said. Skydex is well known for its shockmitigating decking used on high-speed boats, but its noise reduction, antivibration and anti-fatigue benefits have not been enough to offset the increased cost of the product, said Hudspeth.

Skydex Technologies Inc.

Skydex offers anti-fatigue, sound absorbing flooring.

Capt. Shane Rich stands on the slide-out step on Argosy Cruises’ new 500-passenger Salish Explorer.

helm chair, which might seem a logical choice. But no, “people are delighted by the slide-out step,” said Hudspeth. “It’s something simple and has a big impact.” — M. Crowley

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LOOKS BACK February 1948

• On the cover is the 135'6"×30' Santa Helena, built by Avondale Marine Ways, New Orleans, for Van Camp Co. It is reportedly the world’s largest purse seiner. For propulsion, the Santa Helena has an Enterprise DMQ8 diesel engine that develops 1,050 hp at 325 rpm. • President Truman’s $663 million waterways budget

request for fiscal year 1949 includes the construction of two more integrated eight-unit tows by the Inland Waterways Corp., operator of Federal Barge Lines. The budget item is in the form of the issue of $3 million of capital stock of the government-owned company. Under the original enabling act which financed Federal Barge Lines, the company was formed in the 1920s with $15 million in capital stock. February 1958 The Treasury

Department was authorized to purchase $12 million of the original issue, leaving $3 million unissued. Approval is now being sought from Congress for Treasury to purchase the remaining $3 million that must only be used for the two integrated tows.

the use of water services,” said A.M. • Inland waterway operators will Thompson, president, Inland Watertestify before the Senate Subcommittee ways Common Carriers Association. on Surface Transportation to describe The railroads, with tracks along the the essential role of the waterways to river protected from washout by flood the economy. The operators will also control, are important beneficiaries of respond to information supplied at railroad hearings in mid-January. “The river improvements, he said. demands of the railroads that navigation interests on the rivers be singled out for user charges is typical of their misunderstanding of the February 1968 economics of • Shaver Transportation Co. tugs and barges are again plying the waters of the upper Columbia River and lower Snake River. The move marks an expansion by Shaver to the head of navigaation on the Columbia-Snake River Waterway System. The company’s barge service has now been extended to Windust, Wash., just downstream from Lower Monumental Dam, the current 48

head of navigation on the Snake River. • Two 150'9"×60'10" ferries for the Louisiana Department of Highways were placed in service recently on the Mississippi River. The 50-passenger, 35-car ferries were built by Equitable Equipment Co. Inc. under a $1.66 million contract awarded in August 1966. The ferries are powered by pairs of 800-hp GM 16V71N diesels. www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2018 • WorkBoat

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