WorkBoat June 2020 by WorkBoat

Covid-19 • Artificial Intelligence • Life Rafts ®

IN BUSINESS ON THE COASTAL AND INLAND WATERS

YEARBOOK A S TAT U S R E P O R T O N T H E P R I M A R Y W O R K B O AT S E C T O R S

JUNE 2020

HEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TO EVERYONE KEEPING THE WORLD MOVING. During these challenging times, we salute everyone working in the commercial marine industry. Thanks to your tireless work, the flow of essential goods, including vital medical supplies, can continue undisrupted.

www.mtu-solutions.com

ON THE COVER

A crewmember receives a temperature check before boarding the JUNE 2020 • VOLUME 77, NO. 6

hybrid tug Ralph. Harbor Docking & Towing photo

FEATURES 16 Focus: Widespread Covid-19 has affected all workboat sectors.

18 Vessel Report: Invisible Men Will AI take mariners out of the wheelhouse?

24 Cover Story: Yearbook • Shipyards are staying busy despite Covid-19 • For tugs, 2020 looked good, then a pandemic hit • Inland barge operators continue to move commodities during Covid-19 • It looked like another strong year for passenger vessel operators before the coronavirus shut them down • The offshore energy market had high hopes for 2020, then demand was sapped by an oil price crash and Covid-19

BOATS & GEAR 20 On the Ways • Bollinger delivers a 100,000-bbl. articulated tug-barge to Crowley Fuels • New 43' CBRN detection patrol boat for the Los Angeles Port Police from MetalCraft • Inventech Marine delivers 38-passenger waterjet tour boat to Argosy Cruises • McAllister Towing takes delivery of a 6,770-hp tractor tug from Washburn & Doughty • Conrad builds new 6,000-hp Subchapter M towboat for Canal Barge • Metal Shark Alabama delivers first of three 120' towboats to Florida Marine • Halimar Shipyard and Breaux Brothers deliver 354-passenger ferries to New York City

40 Sign of Life

If properly handled, a life raft can fulfill its role as a lifesaving tool.

AT A GLANCE 8 8 9 10 11 12 13

On the Water: Mariners need to take Covid-19 seriously. Captain’s Table: Shutting down and reopening during Covid-19. Energy Level: The coronavirus is crushing offshore drillers. WB Stock Index: WorkBoat stocks rebound in April. Inland Insider: Vessel inspections during Covid-19. Insurance Watch: Cyberattacks amid the coronavirus pandemic. Legal Talk: The first wave of Covid-19 litigation has begun.

NEWS LOG 14 Senate panel seeks funding change for locks and dams. 14 Marad awards $20 million in shipyard grants. 14 TWIC expiration dates extended through July.

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

DEPARTMENTS 2 6 44 51 52

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

Editor’sWatch

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try to stay as positive as possible, though as a journalist, that is often a tough thing to do. And staying positive is being put to the ultimate test during the coronavirus pandemic. This issue’s Yearbook cover story is all about Covid-19 and its effect on the industry. Most of the news is bad, but people are trying to stay positive. The notable exception is the offshore energy sector, which has been beaten down for several years and is now being hit by a demand-sapping, double whammy of low oil prices and Covid-19. Early this year many were optimistic that deepwater drilling demand would strengthen in 2020. Now, offshore drillers and others face bankruptcy. John Groundwater, executive director of the Passenger Vessel Association, said that most of PVA’s 300 passenger vessel operators have ceased operations. “The industry is by and large shut down,” he said. That includes PVA member BB Riverboats. The company expanded recently based on the positive long-term outlook for the passenger vessel industry. “Then this happens,” said owner Alan Bernstein. “But I am hopeful that people will still celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and they will think of us to do that. We are very optimistic that we are going to be OK.” We also heard some optimism from the tug and barge sector. Austin Golding, president of Golding Barge Line, a Vicksburg, Miss.-based tank barge operator, said that thus far, the company has managed to stay busy. “And really, a bigger concern is keeping our guys healthy so that we have enough people to man every boat, and not have an outbreak on a boat.”

David Krapf, Editor in Chief

The barge operator is still hiring and making sure they have adequate crews in case a Covid-19 outbreak occurs. “We’ve actually hired more people,” Golding said. “I have crews being paid to quarantine, to be sure that if I have an outbreak on a boat I have a crew on the sideline that has been paid to be home and be safe.” Golding is optimistic. “I feel the economy is going to get back to normal once we get past this virus.” Others I talked to said they were looking forward to the WorkBoat Show this December, and hoped that it will still be held. They feel that it is important for the industry. We agree.

dkrapf@divcom.com

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 • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

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EDITOR IN CHIEF

David Krapf dkrapf@divcom.com

SENIOR EDITOR

Ken Hocke khocke@divcom.com

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

Kirk Moore kmoore@divcom.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ART DIRECTOR

PUBLISHING OFFICES

• Capt. Alan Bernstein • Bruce Buls • Michael Crowley • Dale K. DuPont • Pamela Glass • Betsy Frawley Haggerty • Max Hardberger • Joel Milton • Jim Redden • 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 Subscription Information: (978) 671-0444 • cs@e-circ.net General Information: (207) 842-5610

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We have all been navigating through rough waters due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and in times like this, we all need a lifeline. Let O’Rourke Marine Services be that lifeline. OMS is committed to keeping customer operations running . We remain focused on ensuring that we take care of your fuel by providing dockside and inland marine services. We have the capability, experience, and 24/7 support at our Houston – Channelview dock.

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Wendy Jalbert 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438 • Portland, ME 04112-7438 (207) 842-5616 • Fax: (207) 842-5611 wjalbert@divcom.com

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(207) 842-5508 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 Producers of The International WorkBoat Show and Pacific Marine Expo www.workboatshow.com www.pacificmarineexpo.com

Chris Dimmerling (207) 842-5666 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 cdimmerling@divcom.com Theodore Wirth Bob Callahan bcallahan@divcom.com

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www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

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Best practices for large purpose-built fireboats

enjoyed Michael Crowley’s article about emergency response training for small boats (WorkBoat, April issue, “Home School”). I agree that emergency responses on the water are unlike anything on land and require frank assessments of needs and abilities as well as innovative programs to make them safe and effective. The Seattle Fire Department is a member of a fraternity operating larger Type 1 fireboats. We operate two purpose-built fireboats, the 108-foot Leschi and the 96-foot Chief Seattle, as well as two (MetalCraft Marine) FireStorm 50s. We provide fire, rescue and EMS services throughout Puget Sound as well as partnering with various state and federal agencies to provide CBRN and spill mitigation capabilities. As a master and training officer, I am inter-

ested in investigating potential national consensus best practices that are appropriate for vessels of our size. In addition to our internal training program, we are working with the Seattle Maritime Academy to develop best practices in emergency response. We practice and train in their fullmission bridge simulator in response situations and environmental conditions that we could not safely duplicate in real life. This enables us to highlight best practices and share them among our team members. I hope there is interest among your readers to participate in a conversation that might be of value to those of us in the fire service that respond to those in need whether they be along the shore or on the seas. Greg Anderson Pilot, Fireboat Leschi Seattle Fire Department Marine Division Seattle, Wash.

Insurance premium relief

nsurance brokers, agents, underwriters and clubs servicing workboats and passenger vessels can ease the effects of earnings losses on owners and operators due to Covid-19 and the accompanying recession. This can be done by providing premium relief using terms and conditions that have been implemented during my 47 years as a maritime insurance professional. Hull and P&I coverages can allow 15 to 30 consecutive days lay-up returns. If fleets of four or more vessels are covered, agree that only 50% of the vessels can work at once with automatic swapping vessels in and out. If more than 50% are working, charge a minimum additional premium for 15 to 30 days. James J. Nevins CPCU, ARM, AMIM Port Jefferson, N.Y.

COLONNA’S SHIPYARD Essential to the Defense Industrial Base, the Colonna’s team is open and operating, proudly serving the needs of our government customers and the commercial maritime transportation industry. Visit us at www.colonnaship.com

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

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On the Water

Mariners must be extra careful and take Covid-19 seriously

By Joel Milton

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

rew change just got a lot more complicated and risky. And everything else is now more complex, too. From grub shopping to gauging a barge to visiting mechanics on board, every routine interaction with people has become a potential source of infection from a microbe officially referred to as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (or SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease (Covid-19). This highly infectious virus will continue to wreak havoc around the world for the foreseeable future. Covid-19’s effects on each individual can be wildly different. It can be anything from completely asymptomatic but still infectious to just a runny nose with a little fever to moderate flu-like symptoms to full-blown viral pneumonia so severe as to cause ground glass opacification (GGO) in the lungs. Yes, GGO is even more horrible than it

Captain’s Table

Covid-19: PPP and reopening

B 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. 8

ecause of the coronavirus pandemic, I wrote this column in my study at home. Having worked my entire life, it is a very strange feeling being idle. If someone asks me what day it is, I struggle to find an answer. Each day is pretty much the same in quarantine. Do you remember the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day”? On a more serious note, my company, BB Riverboats, is still completely shut down because of Covid-19. Like many of you, we are making plans to reopen but do not know when this will happen. As of now, there is no indication from our governor as to when Kentucky might open things up. We have received funds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which will help. But the eight weeks of PPP funding likely will not be enough. The Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) has argued that the PPP timeframe should be extended to 24 weeks or more. We have not heard anything from the Small Business Administration (SBA) on our application for the Emergency Injury Disaster Loan program. We understand that SBA was completely overwhelmed with requests

sounds. And if the disease hits you bad enough to land you in an intensive-care unit then the chances that you will also need to go on a ventilator go way up. And going on a ventilator is something none of us want anything to do with. It’s fair to say that, given the circumstances, you want to spare no effort to stay out of a hospital or any kind of healthcare setting if you can possibly avoid it. If you go to an emergency room virtually anywhere in the U.S., even for something relatively minor like a few stitches, it potentially exposes you to the virus. What is the level of risk? We don’t know, but it’s there. And it can be brought back to a boat, where it would doubtlessly spread in close quarters. As a practical matter, anyone going ashore for any kind of healthcare in an institutional setting should not come back. So be extra careful. Most mariners, including commercial fishers, are by definition essential workers. The public needs us to do our jobs. To do that we need to stay healthy and safe. Which means that all mariners really need to take this virus very seriously.

before running out of money. A looming question is when will we be able to open our business and will passengers return? Will there be pent-up demand for recreation? I hope so. I look forward to when our customers will again spend a relaxing day out on the river aboard the Belle of Cincinnati and our other vessels. Another important question is how we will reopen and what steps we will need to take to protect passengers and crew from Covid-19. Our plan is to use a newly released PVA document “Reopening Guidelines: Getting the Domestic Passenger Vessel Industry Back Underway.” These guidelines will help us adopt new policies that address passenger and employee health issues, social distancing, personal protective equipment, and cleaning and disinfecting our vessels and equipment. The vessels in our fleet are spacious and we will be able to social distance. We will all persevere. My daughter Terri has organized a weekly video happy hour with other PVA members to discuss current issues, compare best practices and just socialize. I can tell you that it really helps. We will get through this and our great country will once again prosper. Please stay home and stay safe. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

WORKBOAT GOM INDICATORS FEB. '20 WTI Crude Oil 49.78 Baker Hughes Rig Count 22 IHS OSV Utilization 29.6% U.S. Oil Production (millions bpd) 13.1

Energy Level

MAR. '20 21.03 18 29.3% 13.0*

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

APR. '20 12.17 17 27.7% 12.1*

APR. '19 65.66 21 30.3% 12.2

*Estimated

WTI Price U.S. Prod 1000s bopd GOM Rig Count Util. Rate % WTI Price U.S. Prod 1000s bopd GOM Rig Count Util. Rate %

The coronavirus is racking drillers

GOM RIG COUNT

By Jim Redden, Correspondent

GOM Rig Count GOM Rig Count

perators are losing their appetite for offshore drilling these days. Between 2020 and 2021, drilling contractors stand to lose an estimated $3 billion in revenue as up to 10% of contract volumes are cancelled in response to Covid-19, according to a Rystad Energy report. Six years of rig contracts had been cancelled as of the April 9 analysis, translating to approximately $400 million in contract value, which Rystad projects will only increase. “More than $22 billion in contract value was wiped off the books as a result of contracts being canceled between 2014 and 2017,” said the report’s author Oddmund Føre, head of the Norwegian consultancy’s Offshore Rig Market Services. “Now, in the infancy of a new downturn, a market that was only beginning to return to a healthy level of contracting activity, contract volumes and day rates, has seen its hopes crushed.” As of May 1, 16 rigs were still on contract in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, according to Baker Hughes, down one rig from the week prior and four from a year ago. “Some operators are pulling back on their drilling programs, but we haven’t heard anything yet about specific rig cancellations related to the virus for those working in deeper waters (of the Gulf of Mexico),” said Liz Tysall, Rystad’s lead offshore rig analyst. “It has, however, become a little more difficult for crew changes if they have international crews.” Globally, the Rystad analysis showed that without substantial capex cuts, offshore drilling contractors will generally be unable to pay their total outstanding debt in 2020. “One of the trends seen five years ago was that E&P companies canceled many contracts and chose

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not to declare many contract extension options, and thereafter rehired rigs at lower rates. This, however, is not likely to be a factor in the current downturn. Rig rates had started to move upwards

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Innovative Unique Proven Apr-19 Apr-19 19-May 19-May Jun-19 Jul-19 Jun-19 Jul-19 19-Aug 19-Aug Sep-19 Sep-19 Oct-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 Jan-20 20-Feb 20-Feb Mar-20 Mar-20 Apr-20 Apr-20

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from opex levels in the months leading up to the coronavirus outbreak, but not enough to constitute any significant cost savings for E&Ps if they were to cancel and rehire a rig,” Føre wrote.

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WorkBoat Composite Index Stocks rebound in April, gain over 7%

fter suffering through two rough months of double-digit percentage losses the Workboat Composite Index gained 116 points, or over 7%, in April. For the month, winners topped losers, 19-11. Among the top percentage losers STOCK CHART

for the month was Diamond Offshore Drilling. The Houston-based drilling operator filed for bankruptcy protection on April 27, hoping to restructure and strengthen its balance sheet and achieve a more sustainable debt profile. The company has a fleet of 15 floating rigs Source: FinancialContent Inc. www.financialcontent.com

INDEX NET COMPARISONS 3/31/20 4/30/20 CHANGE Operators 207.15 243.02 35.87 Suppliers 2,521.62 2,626.28 104.66 Shipyards 2,547.61 2,749.68 202.07 WorkBoat Composite 1,521.56 1,638.31 116.75 PHLX Oil Service Index 24.73 30.55 5.82 Dow Jones Industrials 21,917.16 24,345.72 2,428.56 Standard & Poors 500 2,584.59 2,912.43 327.84 For the complete up-to-date WorkBoat Stock Index, go to: workboat.com/resources/tools/workboat-composite-index/

C&C

PERCENT CHANGE 17.32% 4.15% 7.93% 7.67% 23.53% 11.08% 12.68%

MARINE AND REPAIR

(11 semisubmersibles and four drillships). Diamond Offshore said it had sufficient capital to fund its global operations and to make continued investments in safety and reliability during the reorganization proceedings, and currently does not require additional post-petition financing. “After a careful and diligent review of our financial alternatives, the board of directors and management, along with our advisors, concluded that the best path forward for Diamond and its stakeholders is to seek Chapter 11 protection,” Marc Edwards, president and chief executive officer, said in a statement. “Through this process, we intend to restructure our balance sheet to achieve a more sustainable debt level to reposition the business for long-term success.” — David Krapf

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Inland Insider

Vessel inspections continue during Covid-19

he Coast Guard is continuing its vessel inspection programs during the Covid-19 pandemic, using approaches that the agency says involve “maximum flexibility and creative solutions.” This includes inspections under Subchapter M, the new federal towing vessel inspection program. In March, Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO of the American Waterways Operators, asked Rear Adm. Richard Timme of the Coast Guard to suspend for a minimum of 30 days all in-person inspections under Subchapter M, calling it “a drastic but necessary step for the mutual protection of both towing vessel crewmembers and Coast Guard inspectors.” AWO’s request “does not mean that we are proposing to abrogate our industry’s responsibility to ensure our vessels operate safely and in compliance with applicable regulations,” Carpenter said, suggesting that other methods to verify compliance could be used instead of in-person visits. This includes submitting objective evidence electronically, conducting crewmember interviews by telephone or videoconference, and other virtual means. Carpenter also noted that suspending in-person inspections would make it hard for the towing industry to meet the July 20 deadline requiring that operators of more than one towing vessel obtain Certificates of Inspection for half of their fleet, and operators of only one vessel secure a COI for that vessel. “If in-person inspections are suspended, that deadline will require reconsideration,” she wrote. Carpenter added that the industry is worried that without a nationwide order to suspend in-person inspections, Coast Guard districts will implement different policies that would “increase confusion and elevate risk exposure, but also complicate the post-pandemic recovery and reconstitution of our supply chain

and the resumption of routine Subchapter M certification and compliance verification activities.” Timme responded that continuation of maritime commerce during the pandemic is the Coast Guard’s top priority, and that “commercial vessel compliance activities should, to the safest extent possible, continue in order to safeguard the Marine Transportation System and prevent undue delays now and in the near future.” He said

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

the Coast Guard will use “flexibility and creative solutions” during the pandemic, and that officers in charge of marine inspection (OCMIs) would have latitude to make decisions on a caseby-case basis.

By PamelaGlass

Pam Glass is the Washington correspondent for WorkBoat.

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Insurance Watch Cyberattacks are up

n the world of business insurance, there are few risks the coronavirus pandemic has magnified more than cyberrisk. There is nothing like a pandemic to bring out the bad actors who want to strike when companies have their guards down. With more people working from home, inBy Chris creased internet traffic, and more reliance on Richmond technology for what were face-to-face meetings and transactions, increased vigilance against cyChris Richmond is bercrime is more important than ever. Criminals and hackers are moving away from a licensed mariner high-volume, low-value attacks. Instead, they are and marine insurtargeting senior managers and others who have acance agent with cess to company bank accounts and can authorize Allen Insurance payments. These attacks are on the uptick. and Financial. He Now is the time to review your cybersecurity can be reached processes. An attack can have a big effect on your at 800-439-4311 employees, customers and reputation, and can or crichmond@ result in a serious fi nancial loss. You don’t want to allenif.com be the guy who clicked on the malware link that

slipped through an out-of-date spam filter. Cyberliability insurance can provide risk management services before, during and after a data breach. There are two important types of cyberliability — first party and third party. A first party cyberliability occurs when your own data is stolen. This can include your employees’ personal information or information about your customers. A cyberliability policy provides credit monitoring services to assist the affected individuals which could help minimize the risk of identity theft. Included in the category of first party cyberliability are: • Funds transfer fraud. • Lost business income due to cybertheft (a hack or data breach). Third party liability coverage can provide protection for damage caused by your business to third parties due to a hack. This could be confidential client information that you store in your system. Coverage included in this category are: • Breach of privacy. • Misuse of personal data. • Transmission of malicious content.

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www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Legal Talk

Covid-19 spawns litigation

A By Daniel J. Hoerner

Daniel J. Hoerner is a maritime attorney with Mouledoux, Bland, Legrand & Brackett LLC. He can be reached at 504-595-3000 or dhoerner@mblb. com.

s the economic effects from the Covid-19 pandemic continue to grow, an initial wave of coronavirus-related litigation is already underway. There has been an uptick in workers’ compensation filings by employees who seek benefits for Covid-19-related illness they claim to have developed during the course and scope of their jobs. The cruise industry in particular has likewise taken a hit. As we have seen in the news, some carriers have lost their port of call privileges, stranding not only their ships, but thousands of passengers and crew who have been prohibited from disembarking for fear of spreading the virus. The sudden deprivation of civil liberties is fertile ground for legal action. Also, at least one cruise operator is the target of a class action lawsuit by crewmembers who allege that they have been unreasonably exposed to health risks by their employer’s failure to implement adequate protections against infection. These examples likely represent only the tip

of the iceberg. And because these are uncharted waters, only time will tell how deeply entrenched the court dockets will become with this new strain of legal claims. To further compound the challenges brought on by this influx of novel legal actions, those serving the judicial system have had to operate at a reduced capacity through “stay-at-home” orders and similar quarantine-related restrictions. Moreover, many of the rules that lawyers, judges and litigants typically live by have been upended. Courts across the U.S. have curtailed operations to handle only the most pressing legal matters. Litigants have seen many rigid deadlines suspended and trials postponed indefinitely. Even more drastically, the legislative and judicial branches in many states have declared that statutes of limitations are on hold, effectively granting opportunities to file otherwise timebarred lawsuits. Because virtually every industry and profession have been affected by the fallout from Covid-19, none are immune from the legal ramifications that inevitably follow a crisis of this magnitude.

MANUFACTURED

TO MOVE YOU

FORWARD. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

A R COS A M A RINE .COM BargeSales@Arcosa.com

JUNE 2020

NEWS LOG

NEWS BITTS

Senate panel wants funding change for locks and dams

SMALL SHIPYARD GRANTS TOTALING $20 MILLION AWARDED

Corps of Engineers

would also authorize the secretary of the Army to declare an inland waterways emergency in times of high or low water and to use $25 million a year for three years (subject to appropriations) for projects to address emergency conditions. The committee could mark up the bill during the first week of May. — Pamela Glass Precast shell construction at the Olmsted Locks and Dam project.

key Senate committee that oversees the waterways has agreed to make a significant change in the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF) that would free up more money to modernize aging lock and dam infrastructure. In the first move of the legislative process to produce a new Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) this year, the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee released a draft of the bill on April 21. As part of that proposal, senators agreed to a cost-share adjustment for inland waterways construction and major rehabilitation projects from the current 50-50 spilt to 65% from general federal revenues and 35% from the IWTF, which is financed by a diesel tax paid by the barge industry. The draft bill also authorizes the Chief’s Report for Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, Brazos River Floodgates and Colorado River Locks at a 65%35% split and changes the cost-share for the Brandon Roads Lock project to 75%-25%. An Asian Carp pilot program to address and prevent infestation of this invasive fish in the Great Lakes area would be authorized at $35 million, as well as a comprehensive study of the Lower Mississippi River System. Details aren’t clear yet, but the draft 14

NTSB points finger at boat owner, USCG

he National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) faulted the operator of the duck boat and the Coast Guard for the sinking that killed 17 people near Branson, Mo., in 2018 — the deadliest duck boat accident ever. Ripley Entertainment Inc. continued operating the water part of its tour after a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued for Table Rock Lake, the NTSB said at a virtual meeting in April. And the Coast Guard contributed to the accident by not requiring sufficient reserve buoyancy and or addressing emergency evacuation issues caused by the boat’s fixed canopy. NTSB recommended the owner provide specific guidelines for severe weather, make sure spring-loaded forward hatches can be secured if water is coming in and re-evaluate lifejacket instructions for boats with fixed canopies. It also wants the Coast Guard to require tightening forward hatches, revise its Navigation and Vessel Inspection Circular (NVIC) 1-01 issued after another fatal duck boat accident and review and possibly require additional weather training for mariners. The 33'×8'×5' Stretch Duck 7, built in 1944, was carrying 29 passengers and two crewmembers for what was

he Maritime Administration (Marad) in April awarded $19.6 million in discretionary grants to 24 U.S. small shipyards through the Small Shipyard Grant Program. The funding will help modernize U.S. small shipyards, making them more efficient in constructing commercial vessels. Projects under the program include capital and related improvement projects that foster efficiency, competitive operations, and quality ship construction, repair, and reconfiguration.

TSA EXTENDS TWIC EXPIRATION DATES THROUGH JULY

he Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced that all Transportation Worker Identification Credentials (TWICs) that expired on or after March 1, 2020, would have their expiration dates extended by 180 days. The exemption took effect on April 10 and will remain in effect through July 31, 2020. The Federal Register notice said that there are 2,294,797 active TWICs in circulation as of April, and TSA records indicate that 234,536, or approximately 10%, will expire in the next six months.

Go to workboat.com/news for the latest commercial marine industry news.

usually a 20-minute ride on the lake July 19 when a strong thunderstorm swept through with wind gusts up to 73 mph and 3'-to-5' waves. The captain did not have any weather-monitoring tools onboard, and “his visual assessment of the lake was limited,” Brian Young, the investigator in charge told the board. “The manager on duty and the people at the dock had the most pertinent information” to decide what to do. — Dale K. DuPont

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

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Covid-19 A crewmen gets his temperature checked before boarding HDT’s hybrid tug Ralph.

Widespread By David Krapf, Editor in Chief

t’s probably safe to say that everyone with ties to the workboat industry has been affected in some way by the coronavirus pandemic. From operators to shipbuilders, to naval architects and suppliers, everyone is feeling the pinch. In April, WorkBoat.com interviewed officials from several workboat sectors and asked them how they were faring during the Covid-19 crisis. The offshore energy sector, particularly offshore service vessel operators that work in the Gulf of Mexico, entered 2020 fairly confident that a drilling recovery was coming, only to be hit with a one-two punch from the demand-sapping coronavirus pandemic and a steep decline in oil prices. Matthew Rigdon, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Jackson Offshore Operators, said that his confidence in a recovery was gone. “Certainly, the optimism I had five weeks ago has evaporated. I felt like the latter half of this year would be good, and 2021, frankly, very optimistic we were going to see a recovery in deepwater drilling.” Though his customers are not overreacting and taking a wait-and-see-approach, indications are that they are planning to reduce activity in the near term “and certainly in the mid to long term.” Rigdon said the earlier forecast for an increase in the rig count “is out the window for sure. My

gut tells me we are going to see a reduction in drilling rigs.” PASSENGER VESSELS HIT HARD For the last several years, the passenger vessel has arguably been the strongest workboat sector, benefitting from a booming economy and growing demand from baby boomers. That all came to a halt when Covid-19 hit. Capt. Alan Bernstein, owner of BB Riverboats, Newport, Ky., has had to tie up his three vessels that offer sightseeing, dining, and private event cruises on the scenic Ohio River. The company was ordered by the state of Kentucky to cease operations in March. “We have furloughed everybody, including my family. There’s no harder thing to do than furlough a member of your family. It was a unique situation.” Bernstein said they have essentially been shuttered since around Valentine’s Day, first for high water and then for Covid-19. “That’s a long time.” Fortunately, BB Riverboats was approved for funding under the Paycheck Protection Program in April. PPP provides small businesses with funds to pay up to eight weeks of payroll costs including benefits. Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities. At least www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Harbor Docking & Towing

Like other industries, Covid-19 has also dealt a body blow to the workboat sector.

The River Queen, operated by BB Riverboats, passes by the American Queen on the Ohio River in Cincinnatti. Passenger vessel operators have seen business dry up as a result of Covid-19.

David Krapf

75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll. “That’s a bit of good news,” said Bernstein. The last three and a half years have been “gangbusters” for the passenger vessel industry. BB Riverboats decided to expand recently based on the positive long-term outlook. “Then this happens. But I am hopeful that people will still celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and they will think of us to do that. We are very optimistic that we are going to be OK.” John Groundwater, executive director of the Passenger Vessel Association, said that most of PVA’s 300 passenger vessel operators, including BB Riverboats, have ceased operations. “The industry is by and large shut down,” with some minimal operations in the ferry segment. “But they are hard hit as well.” Based on internal surveys, PVA estimates that the economic impact from Covid-19 on operators if they lost the entire season, March through Labor Day, would be $3 billion to $5 billion. “Seasonal operators may lose their entire seasons,” Groundwater said. Shipyards have also been affected. Bette Jean and John Yank, owners of Yank Marine Inc. in Tuckahoe, N.J., said it has been difficult. The shipyard, located about 30 minutes from Atlantic City, N.J., was established in 1969. “We have locked out all the visitors, all the boat owners,” said Bette Jean Yank. “They didn’t take it too well in the beginning. They thought we were being overzealous. But eventually it trickled down to their locations as well.” Among the new protocols, the shipyard accepts all deliveries at the gate, everyone wears masks, and workers social distance. “We have been disinfecting everything constantly. But even so, we have had one employee test positive,” Yank said. “So, it’s been challenging.” Together with its Dorchester, N.J., location, Yank Marine can build and repair vessels up to 200'. The yard had been busy lately with three new ferries for NY Waterway, similar to the pair of

400-passenger ferries the yard built for the ferry operator in 2015-2016. But the company has postponed delivery of the first ferry, the Franklin D. Roosevelt, which was scheduled for early this year. NY Waterway is down to operating one route with limited service and has had to lay off 80% of its employees, Yank said. “They had no need for these ferries at this point.” As a result, Yank Marine has been cutting hours spent on the other two NY Waterways hulls that are under construction. “Fortunately, we have other work in the yard. But none of our customers are in a good position right now. It has really affected all of our customers except the military.” But not all workboat companies have seen their bottom lines affected by Covid-19 — yet. Austin Golding is president of Golding Barge Line. The Vicksburg, Miss.based tank barge operator specializes in the movement of refined petroleum products, petrochemicals, chemical products and crude oil. Its fleet consists of 63 30,000-bbl. tank barges and 25 towboats. Thus far, Golding said, the company has managed to stay busy. “But we are anticipating a slowdown, and are seeing it in some of our more niche segments rather than bulk cargoes. But so far we have been able to stay busy. And really, a bigger concern is keeping our guys healthy so that we have enough people to man every boat, and not have an outbreak on a boat.”

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

To prevent that from happening, Golding Barge has changed the way it handles crew changes. Previously, crews went straight from their homes to the boats. Now, for crew changes, mariners come to the office in Vicksburg first to be screened. “What’s going to help us the most is a quicker testing turnaround.” For now, the barge operator is still hiring and making sure they have adequate crews in case a Covid-19 outbreak occurs. “We’ve actually hired more people,” Golding said. “I have crews being paid to quarantine, to be sure that if I have an outbreak on a boat I have a crew on the sideline that have been paid to be home and be safe.” Looking ahead, Golding is optimistic. “I feel the economy is going to get back to normal once we get past this virus.” Harbor Docking & Towing (HDT), Lake Charles, La., provides harbor docking and ship-assist services in the Port of Lake Charles and the Calcasieu Shipping Channel. John Buchanan, HDT’s president, said ship calls and traffic have held up so far. “The good news is the port, as far as shipping traffic goes, has been relatively steady,” he said. “We haven’t seen a dip in volume to the port yet, but I think volume will be a lagging indicator of the global economy.” However, Buchanan said that will likely change. “We do anticipate that out into the future at some point there probably will be a dip, based on everything that is going on in the world.” 17

Artificial Intelligence

Invisible Men

AI may eventually nudge mariners out of the wheelhouse.

f the future of the automobile industry is the driverless car, then for the marine industry is it the driverless vessel? Vessels that can be driven remotely or with an onboard system monitored by shoreside personnel could improve safety (computer monitoring) and lower costs (not having to pay a crew) for boat or ship owners. “I want to make the human operator’s job easier. It’s not always a case of trying to replace them,” said Dr. Joshua Vaughan, associate professor of mechanical engineering, University of Louisiana at Lafayette (ULL). “When you remove the operator from the most dangerous part of the job, the stress level goes down.” Let’s take the case of the 790' roll-on/roll-off containership El Faro that sailed into Hurricane Joaquin on Oct. 1, 2015. The ship, which regularly sailed from Jacksonville, Fla., to San Juan, Puerto Rico, left the Florida port just as tropical storm Joaquin was gaining strength and growing into a hurricane. The ship’s captain, Michael Davidson, was locked into a particular weather forecast that was as much as 12 hours old and told him he was south of the storm when the ship was actually north of it. As a result, he headed directly into the cyclone that would

eventually send the ship, with 33 crewmembers aboard, to the ocean floor more than 15,000 feet below. The ship had a laundry list of problems when it left Jacksonville. However, if the ship would have had the ability to be driven by artificial intelligence, instead of an onboard crew, maybe it doesn’t sail into a hurricane. And even if it did, 33 lives could have been spared. UNMANNED VESSELS Like many other technical applications, the government is out front in the use of autonomous vessels. The Navy has an unmanned ship it calls an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) continuous trail unmanned vessel (ACTUV) that tracks quiet diesel-electric-powered submarines. But commercial unmanned vessels are still a distant reality. The idea of a tanker or containership crossing the ocean with no crew is still a ways down the road. “What’s we’re trying to do now is train our systems to recognize what’s out there,” said Vaughan. Instead of one person controlling each ship, he sees a group of people monitoring a fleet of ships. “I see it as more of a system like air traffic controllers.” To get there, smaller steps must be taken. Last summer, a team of mechanical engineering students’ autonomous robotic boat earned the manufacturing award at the international RoboBoat competition put on by the non-profit RoboNation Inc. The judges were mostly from the Office of Naval Research.

Autonomous unmanned surface vessel will operate in the remote Pacific Ocean. 18

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

MetalCraft Marine

By Ken Hocke, Senior Editor

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

ULL’s 16' WAM-V boat operated by ULL’s mechanical engineering department.

courses use different color buoys that the boats’ cameras and Lidar systems have to see, and then the computer determines each buoy’s location before directing the boat to maneuver around them. ULL’s mechanical engineering department is involved in several autonomous vessel projects and also have a 16' WAM-V (wave adaptive modular vessel). OTHER APPLICATIONS There are a number of autonomous/artificial intelligence applications in development and in practical use, including: • Spatial Integrated Systems of Virginia Beach, Va., and MetalCraft Marine US were awarded a contract to look at the feasibility of improving the Coast Guard’s Maritime Domain Awareness (MDA) program in the remote Paciﬁc Ocean using an autonomous unmanned surface vessel (USV). SIS and MetalCraft are redeﬁning the future of autonomous vessels with this program, according to MetalCraft’s contracts manager Bob Clark. • Stottler Henke Associates Inc. was recently awarded a contract with the Navy to customize and demonstrate a critical chain and critical path schedul-

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

The five-student design team from ULL built the boat and programmed its autonomous functions for its senior design project in the C.R.A.W. (Controls, Robotics and Automation, With respect for human interaction) lab under the direction of Dr. Vaughan. This was ULL’s first team to compete at the RoboBoat competition, which was held in South Daytona, Fla. The team designed the boat based on the competition rules, which included guidelines for autonomy, buoyancy, power, energy sources, size, and safety. The students spent most of the fall 2018 semester on conceptual design. In the spring, they focused on construction and coding to prepare it for the competition course. They also created a paper, presentation, video and website for the competition. The 3' boat is battery powered and equipped with a stereoscopic camera, hydrophones, and Lidar to locate obstacles around the competition course. For steering and speed, the boat uses four variable-speed thrusters arranged in a unique X-configuration to enhance the boat’s agility. “That configuration makes it really maneuverable,” said Vaughan. For the competition, the boat had to depend entirely on onboard electronics to navigate different aquatic obstacle courses that tested navigation, speed, and docking abilities. The team programmed the custom code and algorithms that connected the cameras and computer to autonomously navigate the boat. The docking course required boats to pick up pinging sounds from underwater markers and triangulate the proper location to dock. The speed and navigation

A team of ULL mechanical engineering students’ autonomous robotic boat earned the manufacturing award at the international RoboBoat competition in 2018. This year’s competition was cancelled. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

ing capability for surface ship maintenance operations. Stottler Henke’s solution is based on its Aurora intelligent planning and scheduling system, combined with built-in critical chain project management (CCPM) capabilities. If the evaluation is successful, the Navy is expected to contract Stottler Henke to develop and deploy a customized, operational version of the system at naval shipyards, regional maintenance centers, and ship facilities. • Louisiana shipbuilder Metal Shark and Sea Machines, a Bostonbased developer of autonomous marine technology, introduced a new 29' autonomous vessel last fall. The vessel is being offered through Metal Shark’s Sharktech autonomous division. The new Sharktech 29 Deﬁant welded aluminum monohull pilothouse vessel features OEM-integrated Sea Machines technology offering a full range of advanced capabilities including active control and collision avoidance. The system allows for either traditionally manned, reduced crew or unmanned autonomous operations to deliver “human-in-the-loop” navigation capabilities during both line-of-sight and over-the-horizon operations. • ABS has published the ABS Advisory on Autonomous Functionality, which addresses the application of autonomous functions in the maritime and offshore industries, the infrastructure enabling these functions, and key regulatory developments. In addition to categorizing the phases between automation and fully ﬂedged autonomous function, the advisory introduces the “Smart to Autonomous” goal-based framework to guide the implementation of autonomous functions. 19

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS

On TheWays

ON THE WAYS Bollinger delivers 100,000-bbl. ATB to Crowley

ollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La., recently delivered a new Alaska-class 100,000-bbl., articulated tug-barge (ATB) unit to Crowley Fuels LLC. The new ATB, which was built at Bollinger’s Amelia, La., facility, will be used to transport multiple clean petroleum products for the Alaska market. Crowley Fuels is the Alaska-based petroleum transportation, distribution and sales unit of Crowley Maritime Corp. Crowley will operate the 483' ATB for Alaskabased Petro Star Inc., a subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corp. (ASRC) under a long-term charter. The ATB unit consists of the twin Z-drive, 7,000-hp, 128'×85'x19' tug Aveogan and the 400'×85', 100,000-bbl. ocean barge Oliver Leavitt. The ATB is the first in Crowley’s fleet to be dedicated to the Alaska market. “The new vessel’s advanced design and environmental protection features mark a new era for fuel transportation services in Alaska,” said Rick Meidel, vice president and general manager, Crowley Fuels Alaska. “She will give many years of safe and reliable service for our valued customer Petro Star.” Crowley Shipping provided vessel construction management services at Bollinger Marine Fabricators in Amelia from the final design phase through delivery. Crowley’s Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm, Jensen Maritime, provided the func20

tional design. Bollinger’s engineering team provided the integration, detail design and construction package. Jensen designed the ATB to meet Ice-class and Polar Code requirements, which includes increased structural framing and shell plating and extended zero discharge endurance. The doublehulled design also features a barge form factor to achieve high-cargo capacity on minimal draft. The tug has twin Schottel SRP-560 azimuthing Zdrives with carbon fiber drafts to enhance maneuverability, and an Intercon C-series coupling system with a first-of-its-kind lightering helmet. The tug is fitted with two GE 8L250MDC engines that develop 3,384 hp at 1,000 rpm each. The engines meet EPA Tier 4 and IMO Tier III emissions standards. The tug has a running speed of approximately 11 knots. The Aveogan has a capacity of 11 crew. The three 99-kW and one 88-kW John Deere generatordrive engines on the tug and barge meet EPA Tier 3 and IMO Tier II emissions standards. In addition, a closed loop, freshwater ballast system will eliminate the need to discharge tug ballast water into the sea. The tug is equipped with a fire monitor and foam proportioner, providing off-ship firefighting capabilities to the barge. The barge is also outfitted with spill response gear and a hydraulic boom reel with 2,000 linear feet of inflatable boom to support spill response efforts. The vessel was www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Bollinger Shipyards

Alaska-class 100,000-bbl., Tier 4 ATB for Crowley.

MetalCraft completes 43' patrol boat for L.A.

etalCraft Marine delivered a 43′×13'4"×6' patrol boat to the Los Angeles Port Police in December. The $1.5 million CBRN detection patrol boat, Boat 42, was christened in February. The boat is designed for rough water with structure design to ISO 12215 and stability to ISO 12217 Category B. (Cat B means it can work safely in 13'-17' waves.) The boat has a tall mast for restricted in maneuverability lights or tow lights. It has visibility

MetalCraft Marine

built with enhanced features to benefit the crew, including 45° sloped staircases, interior sound deadening and dedicated heads in each cabin. The new ATB was delivered on April 22.

43' patrol boat operates in harbor and offshore.

that meets ABYC sight lines. Its spotter windows are designed to clearly view the ship’s upper superstructures and sheerline. In a hard overturn, the side spotter windows give the operator an unobstructed view to either port or starboard while at 45° heel. “The hardest thing I found with other boatbuilders is that they would not do any custom work or move something simple as a cleat,” said Sgt. Logan Braun, marine operations divi-

sion, Los Angeles Port Police. “This is not the case with MetalCraft. If you have an idea and want it done, Bob (Clark, contracts manager) and his team will work with you to achieve it.” The propulsion system includes two Cummins QSB6.7L 480-hp at 3,000 rpm engines connected to Konrad heavy duty 680 duo-prop outdrives through Twin Disc gears. This combination provides a running speed of 37 knots. A spacious engine

BOATBUILDING BITTS

McAllister Towing

cAllister Towing has taken delivery of the 93'×38' tug Eileen McAllister, the 34th tractor tug in New York-based McAllister’s fleet. The tug was built at Washburn & Doughty, East Boothbay, Maine. The new 6,770-hp tug is powered by 3516E Tier 4 Caterpillar engines with twin Schottel SRP 490 Z-drive units. The tug achieved over 84 metric tons during its ABS bollard pull certification. Combining her eco-friendly CAT engines with Markey winches on the bow and stern puts the new tug at the forefront of shipdocking tugs, McAllister officials said. The tug will supply McAllister’s customers with the power they need to make their port connections in a safe and efficient fashion. In mid-April, Conrad Shipyard, Morgan City, La., delivered a 6,000-hp towboat to Canal Barge Compa-

The 93' Eileen McAllister is now working in Port Everglades. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Conrad Shipyard

New 166' towboat will work out of New Orleans.

ny Inc. (CBC), New Orleans. Built at Conrad Amelia, the 166'×49'×12'4" Subchapter M-compliant H. Merritt ‘Heavy’ Lane Jr. is powered by Tier 4-compliant EMD 12ME23B engines. The engines are each rated at 3,000 hp (2,238 kW) at 900 rpm. Designed by MiNO Marine LLC, New Orleans, the H. Merritt ‘Heavy’ Lane Jr. has a maximum draft of 10'6". The EMD engines turn a pair of Sound Propeller CF-3 110"×113" wheels in Rice Kort 37 nozzles through Karl Senner LLC-supplied Reintjes WAF4545 gears with 4.429:1 reduction ratios. For ship’s service power, the towboat is outfitted with a pair of Cummins QSB7-DM 170-kw, six-cylinder, 1,800 rpm, 4-cycle, turbocharged and aftercooled generators. Fincantieri Marinette Marine was awarded an $800 million contract to build a first-in-class guided missile frigate 21

On TheWays room provides easy access for servicing. Oversize engine hatches provide access to all sides of the engines. Boat 42 is fitted with an aft deck helm, which allows an operator to be part of a boarding exercise or water rescue and provide additional support. It has a portable 900-lb. davit for body recovery. The wide body version of the Interceptor line provides comfortable seating for three officers and extra seating for a boarding party or mass rescue. The boat has overwide side decks with cabin access from near normal size sliding doors. These large doors provide good ingress/egress and for use with side arms. The new boat has a high-speed stainless deck windlass for when the boat is at anchor and surveilling the harbor and its entrance. It can bring up

the anchor at a rapid rate safely with no chance of fouling to let the crew get underway immediately. The boat features the latest Furuno Timezero navigation system, with 16" displays at the helm and a 24" screen at the command/navigation station. A four-way split screen permits navigation information, CCTV cams and infrared cam info simultaneously. The boat has two powerful CBRN detection units that are military grade. The RAD system was supplied by Radiation Plus. The RS-700 has a gamma and neutron detection system. The unit has an integrated controller and data acquisition system. The heart of the RS-700 is the proprietary advanced digital spectrometer (ADS) module. The RAPIDplus chemical detector

by Bruker is the second piece of the CBRN patrol boat. It can automatically detect, identify and monitor all known chemical warfare agents and important toxic industrial chemicals at long distances (3.1 miles). The system can provide real time detection. The instruments utilize Bruker’s RockSolid flex-pivot interferometer and can be operated while static or in motion with no degradation in performance. The software provides the user with enhanced visual surveillance and analytical displays overlaid on video with an extended substance library and increased detection capability. The system requires minimal training and maintenance and utilizes operator friendly software. — David Krapf

BOATBUILDING BITTS

Fincantieri Marinette Marine

hp each at 1,600 rpm and turn 100"×69" stainless steel propellers through Twin Disc MGX-5600DR reverse reduction gears with 6.56:1 ratios. Sleeping accommodations and facilities have been provided for a nine-person crew. Halimar Shipyard, Morgan City, La., and Breaux Brothers Enterprises, Loreauville, La., each delivered a new 97'1"×27'11"×11'6" ferry to NYC Ferry. Designed by Incat Crowther, the first two low emission EPA Tier 4-compliant 354-passenger ferries, the H401 and Curiosity, will join the fleet of the expanding NYC Ferry operated by Hornblower. The Incat Crowther digital ship design package allowed identical vessels to be constructed at independent shipyards. Main propulsion comes from twin Baudouin 12M26.3 Tier 4 diesel engines, producing 1.379 hp at 2,100 rpm each, connected to 5-bladed wheels. The propulsion package gives the boats a running speed of 26.5 knots.

for the Navy, with an option for nine additional ships. (No specifications for the frigate were released.) The award was announced by the Department of Defense following competition among several other major U.S. shipyards. The contract offers FMM the option to build and deliver up to 10 ships, as well as post-delivery availability support, engineering and class services, crew familiarization, training, equipment, and provisioned item orders. According to the contract announcement, if all options are exercised, the cumulative value of the contract will be $5.5 billion. Metal Shark Alabama, Bayou La Batre, Ala., has delivered the first of three 120'×35' river towboats to Florida Marine Transporters Inc. (FMT), Mandeville, La. The four-decked, welded-steel, Subchapter M-compliant towboat Stephanie Pasentine — Louisiana-based Metal Shark’s firstever steel newbuild and also its first inland towboat — was designed by John W. Gilbert Associates Inc. The vessel’s twin Caterpillar 3512C marine diesel engines deliver 2,011 22

Metal Shark Alabama

First-in-class guided missile frigate for the Navy.

120' Subchapter M towboat is Metal Shark’s first-ever steel newbuild and also its first inland towboat. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

nventech Marine Solutions (IMS) Bremerton, Wash., delivered a 46'×12' twin inboard diesel-powered 38-passenger waterjet tour boat to Argosy Cruises, Seattle, in February. Inventech is the manufacturer of Life Proof Boats and FAST collar systems. “That’s a 38-passenger, full cabin, twin inboard diesel that has a lot of space,” said Jenson Charnell, Inventech’s president. “It’s a great platform.” Main propulsion comes from twin Cummins QSB6.7 diesel engines, producing 480 hp each. The mains connect to HamiltonJet HJ292 waterjets through ZF 280 transmissions. During builders trials the vessel’s top speed was 33 knots with 3⁄4 fuel and water, and five people on board. Tankage includes 300 gals. of fuel and 20 gals. fresh water. Scantling, keel bar and plating was calculated using Lloyd’s G2 service area requirements. After several meetings with Argosy, IMS finalized a conceptual model — Life Proof Boats proven 22° deadrise all 5086 aluminum construction monohull with closed cell foam collars. Final lightship weight was 21,000 lbs. The new passenger vessel recorded a cruise speed of 27.2 knots (31.3 mph), burning a combined 27 gph, giving the vessel an 11-hour, 344-mile range. The tour boat is outfitted with a Furuno GPS/depth/radar, Icom VHF, and Fusion stereo. The console is set forward within the cabin, with an enclosed head forward of the console. To assist with an unbalanced load, the vessel is fitted with Zipwake automatic trim control system. Defrost for the windows and heat for the cabin is provided by four waste heaters plumbed to the main propulsion engines. The bow is configured with storage, anchoring system, and a manual low-

Inventech Marine Solutions

Inventech delivers 46' tour boat to Argosy Cruises

46' tour boat will cruise around Seattle.

ering dropbow with a fold-out, fourstep ladder for beach landing. There is bench seating for 26 passengers inside the cabin with 4"-thick custom cushions made with multiple density

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

foams and durable marine fabric. The vessel carries onboard automatic fire-suppression and a 50-person IBA (inflatable buoyant apparatus). — Ken Hocke

POWER FACTS 650 - 925 hp Up to 800* hp @ 2,300 rpm with 2,000 hr/yr Up to 700* hp @ 2,100 rpm with unlimited hr/yr EPA Tier 3*

MARINE POWER SOLUTIONS

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YEARBOOK

he big story this year is the coronavirus pandemic. At shipyards, business has been remarkably steady despite Covid-19 (see below). Tug operators were expecting a robust 2020, but the coronavirus crisis has altered the long-term outlook (see page 26). Inland barge operators have had to adapt to operations under Covid-19, but the industry has continued to move commodities (see page 32). The passenger vessel industry was looking forward to another blockbuster season in 2020, but it was stopped in its tracks by the coronavirus pandemic (see page 36). The offshore energy industry, which had high hopes for 2020 in December, was hit by the dual blow of plunging oil prices and Covid-19 (see page 38).

Coronavirus can’t stop boats from being built

Despite Covid-19, many shipyards across the U.S. have remained open for business. The yards have implemented new procedures to keep workers safe and healthy.

By Ken Hocke, Senior Editor

Ken Hocke

n April, Covid-19 sent everyone scurrying into their homes to shelter in place. Businesses shut down, leaving millions without jobs. But business at many shipyards has continued. It may not be business as usual, but boats are being built and delivered and contracts are being signed. In April: • Conrad Shipyard, Morgan City, La., delivered a 6,000-hp towboat to Canal Barge Company Inc. • Eastern Shipbuilding Group, Panama City, Fla., signed a contract to build a second 360'×54' offshore patrol cutter for the Coast Guard.

• Metal Shark has added 20 new law enforcement customers and over 35 welded aluminum law enforcement vessels have either been recently delivered or are currently in production at

its Louisiana shipyards. • Washburn & Doughty, East Boothbay, Maine, delivered a 93'×38' Tier 4 tractor tug to McAllister Towing.

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

BEHAVORIAL CHANGES Shipyards across the U.S. that have remained open for business respect the seriousness of Covid-19. The key they say is working smart and staying safe. At VT Halter Marine, Pascagoula, Miss., everyone entering the yard must have his or her temperature taken. “If you are 100.4 or above, you have your temperature taken a second time by a different device. If you are still 100.4 or above, you’re sent home until your temperature goes down,” said Liz Johnson, VT Halter’s marketing and communications manager. “Workers, both in the office and in the yard, are reminded every day to wash your hands, don’t touch your face, stay at least six feet away from other people.” Johnson said both office and yard employees are working staggered schedules. “We have day and night shifts, where certain groups work Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, another group Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, still others with schedules that include Sundays,” she said. “Our yard supervisors watch out for group gatherings.” MetalCraft Marine, with locations in Cape Vincent, N.Y., and Kingston, Ontario, Canada, has been ramping up its adjustment to the temporary new normal. “We have adjusted all jobs to ensure that each employee has a minimum eight feet from the next person, which means reducing numbers on larger boats,” said Bob Clark, the company’s contracts manager. “All design, project management, procurement and accounting is done from

VT Halter Marine

• Bollinger Shipyards, Lockport, La., delivered the 38th 154'×25' fast response cutter to the Coast Guard and a 100,000-bbl. ATB for Crowley Fuels. Additionally, requests for proposals (RFP) are still being shopped around. “RFPs are still coming out,” said Micah Bowers, CEO of Bremerton, Wash.-based Inventech Marine Solutions, makers of Life Proof Boats. “This virus in not slowing them at all. We’re just as busy as ever putting leads out.”

Everyone who arrives at VT Halter is temperature checked before entering the shipyard.

home. All meetings are done online. We have reduced shipping between here and New York to a minimal level and cut out cross-border training temporarily. “Our facilities maintenance person is now a sanitizer, regularly sanitizing every common area several times a day. There are sanitizers, hand and material, all over the place. All employees have good working gloves and face masks if needed,” added Clark. “We have lost a few people who had to look after family and children, a couple from panic, but still moving along well. Most deals that were closing are on some sort of hold as they deal with more pressing issues, understandably.” Gulf Island Shipyards, Houma, La., has a number of military and commercial projects on its orderbook. “We are open for business but being very diligent as we look out for the safety of our employees,” said Chris Vaccari, executive vice president at the Houma, La., shipyard. “We are following the CDC guidelines and then some”. In Salisbury, Md., Chesapeake Shipbuilding Corp. is running at full capacity, said company head Charles Robertson, who is also CEO of American Cruise Lines (ACL). They perform daily screenings of workers when they report, and they’ve staggered shifts. “We’re doing everything

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

we can to keep it open and keep the people safe,” he said. At Moose Boats, general manager Steve Dirkes said the Vallejo, Califbased boatyard is fortunate to be considered an essential business due to the fact that it builds and services boats for first responders. “All of our employees maintain a six-foot separation, wash their hands a lot, and have to eat lunch in their respective cars instead of sharing the break room, but we are trying to make do as best we can,” said Dirkes. Back in the Gulf of Mexico, Bayou La Batre, Ala.-based Steiner Shipyard is limiting access of all visitors, vendors and salespeople to its facilities. “We are educating our employees and confirming that they know the facts about the coronavirus,” said yard owner and president Tara Marshal. “We are emphasizing to prepare and not panic. We are sanitizing and cleaning like crazy and fortunately for us we have a lot of boats, so we are able to space employees apart and on various phases of boats throughout the yard.” Just a few miles from Bayou La Batre in Mobile, Ala., Austal USA is a prime Navy contractor with upwards of 4,000 employees. “Austal USA’s primary concern is the health and well-being of our work25

YEARBOOK: TUGS

Covid-19 dampens outlook for tug market By Betsy Frawley Haggerty, Correspondent

arlier this year, the tug industry was expecting a robust 2020, with several companies ordering and taking delivery of powerful new tugboats designed to handle ultra-large ships or push barges in tight quarters, and also meet EPA emission standards and Subchapter M requirements. For example: • In April, the 93'×38', 6,700-hp Eileen McAllister became the 34th tractor tug and fifth Tier 4 boat in New York City-based McAllister Towing and Transportation’s fleet. Designed by Bruce Doughty and built at Washburn & Doughty, East Boothbay, Maine, once she was delivered, the Eileen headed directly to Port Everglades, Fla., where she will be one of the most powerful tugs in the port. • Moran Towing Corp, New Canaan, Conn., was looking forward to a 2020 delivery of two 86'×35", 5,100-hp Tier 4 ship-assist Z-Drive tugs, which are now under construction at Washburn & Doughty. • In February, Vane Brothers, Baltimore, which operates tugs and barges on the East, West and Gulf

Coasts, took delivery of the Annapolis, the second of four push tugs being built at Chesapeake Shipbuilding, Salisbury, Md. With a draft of just 8'6", the 94'×34', 3,000-hp Annapolis is particularly well suited to transport fuel in shallow inland waters. Chesapeake is slated to build two more identical push tugs for Vane. FOGGY OUTLOOK But the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has made the short-term outlook dismal for some tug companies and the long-term business forecast uncertain. The Midwest has been hit hard. According to Greg Thauvette, vice president of operations, sales and marketing at Great Lakes Towing, Cleveland, it appeared to be business as usual when the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway opened in late March. But by mid-April, stay-at-home orders were keeping steel mills and mines closed, and ships tied to docks. “When you take away the demand for ore to produce steel, coal to fuel power plants, and limestone for the construction industries, the effects are devastating,” Thauvette said. “Our fleet of 30 tugs across 12 ports has been fit out for the season and our crews are standing by at the ready if and when our services may be required.” Great Lakes Towing has been

In February, Vane Brothers took delivery of the 3,000-hp push tug Annapolis.

Ray Hoffman/Vane Brothers

force. We’re closely monitoring and following guidance from the CDC, World Health Organization, the Navy and state and local officials to ensure necessary steps are taken to safeguard our workforce and sustain support to national defense requirements,” said Craig Savage, director of communications and external affairs. “Austal remains open and operating under close care. The company’s precautions include travel restrictions for non-essential employees, review of recently traveled employees, comprehensive facility sanitization, social distancing, and moving to virtual meetings whenever practical. We’re continuing to monitor developments and updating our response accordingly.” Metal Shark’s four Louisiana and Alabama facilities remain open for business under direction from the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. For the time being, work continues, albeit with many extra steps in place (employee screening, staggered shifts, rearrangement of work areas to create extra separation, employees working remotely, etc.). In the Northwest, All American Marine, Bellingham, Wash., was ordered to halt production on March 26, to comply with new directives from Gov. Jay Inslee. Core managerial staff are working on essential business functions, vessel programs, and resolving any outstanding regulatory and construction issues. The production team went back to work on April 20. Another Washington state shipyard, Armstrong Marine in Port Angeles, was complying with the governor’s directives but were able to reopen on April 13 to work on vessels considered essential. “We’re taking every precaution under the sun to be safe,” said sales and marketing director, Charlie Crane. “We’re limiting how many are in a room, no visitors, handwashing sign reminders, hand sanitizers everywhere.”

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upgrading its fleet and added its first fully hybrid tug in 2019. Two more had been scheduled for launching this year, but the company’s Great Lakes Shipyard has been affected as well, so there may be schedule changes. The Port of New York/New Jersey has seen about a 30% drop in commercial vessel transits in recent weeks compared to the same period in 2019, Coast Guard Sector New York spokesman Daniel L. Henry said. Edward J. Kelly, executive director of the Maritime Association of the Port of NY/NJ, was more specific. During the first half of April 2019, 180 deep-sea ships, including containerships and tankers, called on the Port of New York, he said. This year the number was 134, a drop of 46 ship calls. “People aren’t buying things. It’s the same thing all over. Fewer ships are coming in all up and down the coast,” Kelly said.

The 93’x38’, 6,700-hp Eileen McAllister was delivered in April.

As a result, McAllister and Moran, two of the nation’s major ship-assist companies, have seen a significant drop in work. Vane Brothers, which refuels vessels, particularly for the now-dormant cruise ship industry, has had its work about cut in about in half, Kelly said. Buckley McAllister, the fifth generation president of family-owned McAllister Towing, acknowledged the slowdown.

“While it is difficult to come up with specific statistics regarding the impact of governmental measures taken to slow the spread of the pandemic, we certainly started to observe a reduction of ship arrivals in the second half of March, which appears it will continue into May and June,” McAllister said. “Many of our customers are struggling. Pretty much everyone in our company has had a layoff, furlough or reduction in pay, and we all want to get back to full em-

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Work has been steady for Harbor Docking & Towing but the company is preparing for a coronavoirus-related reduction in ship traffic.

ployment. Despite the disappointments and apprehensions of working through a crisis, we have the satisfaction of getting essential jobs done.” An essential job for McAllister was when four of its tugs escorted the Navy hospital ship Comfort when it arrived in New York on March 30 to assist the city’s overwhelmed hospital system. After treating 182 patients during its

month in New York, the Comfort’s work was done. On April 30, the ship departed for its Norfolk, Va., homeport, assisted by the tugs Capt. Brian McAllister, Ava M. McAllister, Ellen McAllister and Marjorie B. McAllister. The slowdown had not hit Harbor Docking & Towing Co. LLC (HDT) by late April. But company president, John Buchanan, said he expected it

would come. The Lake Charles, La.based company’s six tugs, including two hybrids added to the fleet in 2019, do ship-assist work on the Calcasieu Ship Channel. “They have all been busy, but shipping traffic is a lagging indicator of global markets,” he said. “I do anticipate a reduction of volume at some time especially if this Covid-19 continues to be as protracted in length as it seems to be.” At the same time that tug companies are dealing with economic challenges, they have had to establish new health and safety procedures aboard vessels. Most are following Covid-19 guidelines issued by the CDC, the Coast Guard and the American Waterways Operators that include social distancing when possible, rigorous cleaning and sanitizing of all surfaces, banning visitors and establishing clear procedures for crew changes. At HDT, sick leave policy has changed, allowing anyone ill or who thinks they may have been exposed to

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YEARBOOK: INLAND WATERWAYS

Covid-19 challenges barge operators, but impact is minor so far By Pamela Glass, Washington Correspondent

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Covid-19 to quarantine at home for 14 days and still collect a paycheck. As of late April, no crewmembers were known to have had the virus, Buchanan said. Life aboard HDT’s tugs is more insular. Since it is impossible for tug crews to stay six feet apart while working, they observe social distancing the way families do. No visitors, including outside contractors, are allowed aboard. Visits with other tug crews or dock gatherings are banned. In normal times, Buchanan said, crews would get together for game nights or to cook shared meals. No more. On crew change days, the offgoing crew wipes everything down and departs, social distancing from the incoming crew. The new crew receives temperature checks as a precaution, then once aboard, wipes everything down again. Precautions are similar at McAllister. Non-essential personnel are prohibited from boarding vessels. Groceries are delivered. Health and temperature checks are done at crew changes. Everything is wiped down carefully and often. Docking pilots wear PPE and social distance as much as possible when crews come aboard. “We make every effort to minimize exposure for the crews,” company president McAllister said. “For the most

hile most of the rest of the country is in lockdown, the nation’s barge industry continues to ply the waterways as an essential workforce needed to keep the economy running. For barge companies and their workers, it’s business as usual — but not really. Barge lines continue to transport agricultural. energy, construction and steel materials along the nation’s inland rivers, coastal waters and Great Lakes. This is an industry that is used to working through national emergencies and delivering goods in high water, floods and droughts. But compared to a year ago, when barge lines faced unprecedented operat-

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ing conditions due to long periods of high water and floods, the coronavirus pandemic presents a very different set of challenges. Never before has this industry, like so many others, had to retool its business model to accommodate a major threat to the health of its workers. Barge operators have had to rethink how they deploy workers, how they deal with illness onboard, how to best disinfect their vessels, and how to keep their companies afloat. Meanwhile, mariners must try to social distance where possible, undergo health screenings, and deal with the anxiety and constant worry about the safety of their loved ones at home. As Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO of the American Waterways Operators put it: “The single most important thing AWO member companies can do to preserve our industry’s ability to operate is to maintain the health and

safety of towing vessel crewmembers. Each of our member companies is taking aggressive action to minimize their crewmembers’ risk of exposure to Covid-19 to protect them and the supply chains they support.” CHANGING ECONOMY Companies have also had to adapt to a shifting domestic and world economy. As the nation isolates and people and businesses are using less fuel and electricity, demand for barge transport of energy products is down, while some companies have gone into the business of storing surplus crude oil. “The combination of Covid-19 demand destruction for gasoline and diesel combined with Russia and Saudi Arabia increasing crude oil production has really hit the petroleum sector hard, which was the bright spot for the barge industry,” said J. Alan Barrett, director of consulting at Doane Advisory

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Services in Memphis, Tenn., who tracks the barge industry. “The U.S. has run out of storage space for crude oil. Future declines in crude oil production will result in barge movements plummeting.” Generally, companies are taking the changes in stride, trying their best to operate under new conditions. “In Pennsylvania, we’re a life sustaining industry, so we’ve never stopped, we are operating through all this,” said Peter Stephaich, president and CEO of Campbell Transportation, a diversified marine transportation company headquartered in Pittsburgh. “We’ve taken extra precautions on crew changes and cleaning boats, and there are higher costs to handle all this properly, but our boats are running.” The office staff at Campbell is working from home, while protocols based on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance have been implemented on vessels. So far, the company has had no cleaning or quarantine issues, and no positive cases of coronavirus among its workers. Crews and shoreside workers underwent basic safety awareness training for the pandemic, anyone going on a vessel or the shore facility must complete a health survey, and procurement managers have stockpiled cleaning and hygiene supplies including thermometers and face masks, said Gary Statler, Campbell’s managing director of safety, regulatory compliance and HR. On the plus side, the barge industry has come together to help each other, sharing company protocols on things like vessel cleaning, crew training and hiring, Statler said. Companies are mindful that keeping boats clean and mariners healthy might avoid having to lay up crew and vessels further down the line should there be a virus outbreak. This could be expensive, and Stephaich estimates it could cost $5,000 to $10,000 a day in crew pay and lost revenue. Stephaich said his mariners have expressed relief that, unlike many others across the country, they still have their jobs, and they are thankful to live

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Ryan Guidry

Barge lines continue to transport commodities along the nation’s inland rivers, coastal waters and Great Lakes, but Covid-19 is presenting a new set of challenges.

in parts of the U.S. that are not hotspots for coronavirus infection. He said Campbell continues to actively hire new personnel. The pandemic’s affect on barging might come later this year or next, as a slowdown in the world economy starts to trickle down, and demand softens for

barge transportation, said Barrett. “The biggest risk is the commercial building sector,” he said. “With businesses going bankrupt, even with low interest rates, justifying new construction for office space, warehouses, etc., will be very difficult. This will hurt demand for all the bulk materials required

to build commercial properties” that move by barge. On the other hand, he said the pandemic has led to a strong U.S. dollar which could help increase imports. “For the barge industry, imported steel, fertilizer and cement are good long barge moves from Louisiana to Tennessee and beyond.” Barge companies are used to such ups and downs. “Operationally we have to run in ice, high water and breakaways and because we’ve had to deal with all this adversity, we’ve become resilient,” Stephaich said. “So, having this big event is less impactful to someone in the barge business than to someone running a grocery store or restaurant because we deal with all these unexpected and dangerous impacts in a normal year. We’re used to having this stuff thrown at us more than most.”

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YEARBOOK: PASSENGER VESSELS

Passenger vessel sector grinds to a halt

American Queen Steamboat

020 was shaping up to be another banner year for passenger vessels until the coronavirus pandemic and government edicts shut almost every operation down. The closings that started in midMarch may stretch into summer with some operators giving hoped-for restart dates and others suspending sailings until further notice. Thousands of employees have been laid off or furloughed, vessels sit idle, passengers want refunds, owners try to navigate federal aid programs and communities argue about when to reopen for business. There’s no sugar-coating the outlook. “Numerous U.S. small passenger vessel operators who operate seasonally will surely lose their entire operating season for 2020 and most likely will go into their 2021 seasons — should they actually survive — dramatically weakened financially,” the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA), said in a letter urging Congress to expand the Payroll Protection Program (PPP). PVA, which represents 300 passenger vessel operators with about 2,000 vessels, estimates the economic damage from March 1 to Labor Day could

Savannah Riverboat Cruises

By Dale K. DuPont

Savannah Riverboat Cruises estimates that it will be until mid-June at the earliest before the company is back up and running.

range from $3 billion to $5 billion. Troy Manthey laid off more than 90% of his 145 employees and is keeping the marine crew busy though at reduced hours. “All owners I know have taken themselves off salary, including me. I’m no longer getting paid,” said the CEO of Yacht StarShip and Pirate Water Taxi in Tampa, Fla. What’s more, they received a COI for a new water taxi built by NewCastle Shipyards, Palatka, Fla., the week they were shut down. “We’ve been very fortunate in being able to move our group business to the fall,” he said, and if allowed to open, they’ll have good third and fourth quarters. But even then, there will be questions about how many of their four dinner boats will be in service and what the capacity restrictions will be. Handwashing sinks in all boarding areas,

Before Covid-19 hit, the new American Countess was set to start sailing in April.

thermometers and masks will be part of the scene. “I think there’s a ton of people with cabin fever. There will be a lot of folks who want to get out on the water,” Manthey said. “When our customers see the level we’re going through to keep vessels sanitized, they will feel very comfortable.” SLOW RECOVERY Capt. Jonathan Claughton, owner of Savannah Riverboat Cruises, thinks people will want to stay close to home and drive rather than fly anywhere. “People are looking for smaller, less crowded vacations,” he said, and Savannah’s a good place for that. “It’s probably going to be mid-June before we are back up and running at best. It’s going to be a slow, gradual recovery to the end of the year,” said Claughton, who operates the 1,000-passenger Georgia Queen and the 600-passenger Savannah River Queen. About 20 of a total staff of 120 remain. Groups that were booked in the spring have rescheduled for the fall. “We’re going to weather the storm.” Still operating in late April — because they are considered critical transportation infrastructure — was Washington Island Ferry Line. The Wisconsin company is doing four rather than six daily trips to Washington Island in Lake Michigan, carrying only two or three cars each, a fraction of the 18 to 21 their four vessels can hold. “Hopefully, what we’re seeing now

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Dear reader, These are tough times, not only for the commercial marine industry but for the entire country and world as we enter uncharted waters as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Here at WorkBoat and WorkBoat.com, our goal is to continue to provide you with timely updates from all sectors and regions of the commercial marine industry on how Covid-19 is affecting business and vessel operations. We want to help you steer through these uncertain times by being your go-to source for this information. Our editors update WorkBoat.com daily with breaking news on the coronavirus and other developments in the commercial marine industry. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t forget to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter on WorkBoat.com for the latest updates. Also, we ask that you help keep us informed by alerting us to any news we may miss that is valuable to vessel operators and their crews. Drop me a line at dkrapf@divcom.com. David Krapf Editor in Chief WorkBoat www.workboat.com

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is the lowest of the low,” said Hoyt Purinton, president and captain of the community’s year-round lifeline. “Typically, we’re very conservative. There’s a short time to put enough hay in the barn. The options currently available are not great.” Operators defer, cancel and cut what they can. Federal help “puts some sand in the upper part of the hourglass.” In the last five or six years, demand has steadily increased. Purinton was expecting to take delivery in June of a 124'×40' vessel with an icebreaking hull built by Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wis., that will be the longest and widest in his fleet. But, “at this point, it will be parked.” “It’s daunting to look further than a year,” he said. “PPP helps buy more time for planning, hopefully more time for options. There is no choice other than to fight and push on.” The virus also has hurt domestic overnight cruising. U.S.-flag operators that had been steadily expanding to meet demand stopped sailing or postponed start dates. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) no-sail order potentially cancels cruises until early July for all overnight vessels with passenger and crew totals of 250 or more. Though drafted for the huge foreignflag ships which had highly publicized virus outbreaks, the CDC directive hit some U.S.-flag vessels as well, and they are adjusting. “We’ll voluntarily make a nominal temporary modification to the certificated passenger and crew allowances on the American Empress which typically accommodates 221 guests and 88 crew,” said John Waggoner, founder and CEO of American Queen Steamboat Co. “We believe we can adequately meet our anticipated ridership, enhance social distancing on board and remain below the CDC’s 250 person on board guideline.” With 166 passengers and a crew of 70, the company’s American Duchess is below the threshold. The New Albany, Ind.-based cruise line also has updated its operations 38

manual to deal with CDC’s concerns, and they’re optimistic federal authorities will accept it, “and then, we will be able to commence operations on the American Queen and the American Countess,” he said. The 245-passenger American Countess was originally set to start sailing in April from New Orleans. “We anticipate restarting operations with a phased-in approach beginning in late June,” Waggoner said. “This will depend on when states and local authorities relax their policy on social distancing and stay-at home policies.” As ridership increases on the first two vessels, they’ll launch the other two. American Cruise Lines (ACL), the largest U.S.-flag overnight operator with 12 ships on inland and coastal waters, also has suspended cruises “for the safety of our guests and crew,” said Charles Robertson, president and CEO of the Guilford, Conn., company. All vessels are under 190 passengers. “Despite this year’s unprecedented disruption, American is still building for the future and looks forward to cruising close to home with our guests again soon.” ACL is on schedule to debut the third in its modern riverboat series, the 194-passenger American Jazz, later this year in New Orleans.

YEARBOOK: OFFSHORE

Even more bad news for offshore energy By David Krapf, Editor in Chief

hen the year started, many experts were optimistic that the offshore sector would finally turn the corner in 2020. Oil prices were steady — in the $60-bbl. range — and the consensus in the Gulf of Mexico was that offshore drilling would pick up in the latter half of this year and into 2021. But then demand was crushed by an oil price crash and the coronavirus pandemic. In 2020 and 2021, it’s now

estimated that drilling contractors will lose an estimated $3 billion in revenue as up to 10% of contract volumes are cancelled in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a Rystad Energy economic impact analysis. Rystad said that six years of rig contracts worth about $400 million had been cancelled as of the April 9 analysis. Rystad projected that will only increase as operators continue to slash capex and delay new drilling projects. Sure enough, a few weeks after Rystad’s analysis was released, Diamond Offshore Drilling became the latest casualty of the unprecedented market collapse, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on April 26. In its filing, which followed the contractor’s skipping of a semiannual interest payment due April 15, the contractor cited unprecedented market conditions that had worsened “precipitously in recent months.” On May 1, Exxon Mobil announced that it had posted its first loss in three decades — $610 million in the first quarter, or 14 cents a share, compared to a $2.4 billion gain in 2019. In response to market conditions, ExxonMobil announced that it is reducing 2020 capital spending by 30%. Capex is now expected to be approximately $23 billion for the year, down from the previously announced guidance of $33 billion. “Covid-19 has significantly impacted near-term demand, resulting in oversupplied markets and unprecedented pressure on commodity prices and margins,” Darren W. Woods, Exxon’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “While we manage through these challenging times, we are not losing sight of the long-term fundamentals that drive our business. Economic activity will return, and populations and standards of living will increase, which will in turn drive demand for our products and a recovery of the industry.” The outlook has changed dramatically for oil service providers. Matthew Rigdon, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Jackson Offshore

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

Greater Lafourche Port Commission

More tough times are expected for OSV operators for the rest of this year and in 2021.

Operators, said that the optimism he had earlier in the year has evaporated. “I felt like the latter half of this year would be good, and 2021, frankly, very optimistic we were going to see a recovery in deepwater drilling.” Rigdon said his earlier forecast for an increase in the rig count “is out the

window for sure. My gut tells me we are going to see a reduction in drilling rigs.” In the April 2020 issue of Offshore Marine Monthly, Richard Sanchez, senior marine analyst with IHS Markit, discussed the looming effects of the oil price crash and Covid-19 on

the offshore supply vessel market. “You cannot see it in the numbers yet, but global OSV utilization will fall and the already low day rates are vulnerable,” Sanchez wrote. “Exploration and production company plans are in the midst of changing, and vessel demand is expected to fall over the next few months. Most of the operators active in the Americas have already announced dramatic cuts in 2020 spending. “We can expect to see fewer wells drilled than planned in the third quarter of this year. If the oil crisis continues, we should expect to see wells shut in.” On a positive note, ExxonMobil said it has increased production at its U.S. Gulf Coast and Asia manufacturing facilities of critical raw materials used in medical masks, gowns and hand sanitizer to help support the front line Covid-19 response.

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Life Rafts

Sign of Life By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

here aren’t many choices for inflatable life rafts for commercial vessels, no matter what manufacturer you go to. Coast Guard and SOLAS regulations determine an inflatable life raft’s size, construction and contents. “They are all identical, (just) with a different brand on the outside of the box,” said James Dayka, general manager with Puget Sound Inflatables in Seattle. There are coastal and offshore versions, but each life raft is basically the same from one manufacture to another. That’s opposed to life rafts for non-commercial, uninspected vessels where there are no mandatory guidelines and the design and construction is pretty much up to the manufacturer. For commercial operators, as long as their inflatable life raft or rafts match up with the number of people aboard, are designed for how far offshore the vessel will work, are stowed properly on deck

Alaska State Wildlife Troopers from the 156-foot patrol vessel Stimson receive water safety and survival instruction from the Coast Guard in Unalaska, Alaska.

and been inspected yearly, there’s a good chance it will fulfill its role as a lifesaving tool. Of course, the weak link is the crew. Do they have any idea what to do when its time to launch a life raft, especially in stormy weather? Or what’s the best way to get people in the raft? Not all life raft manufacturers offer a training video, and it’s generally not practical to do a demonstration launch when buying a new life raft. Though Dayka feels some large operators such as Washington State Ferries “do train crews and have full deployments,” that’s probably not the case for single vessel operators. For those vessels that have sunk and empty life rafts are found floating nearby, Dayka said, “whether or not people could get into them is another question.” www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Jake Vickers

When life rafts aren’t properly handled, problems can arise.

One of the three life floats that were on board the Trinity II liftboat.

aboard the vessel. After the rafts were lost, the Trinity II’s 10 crewmembers clung to a life float for three days. Only six made it back alive. Improperly installed life rafts on workboats are something that Dayka has seen. The issue isn’t that a raft is mounted in the wrong location but the hydrostatic release isn’t hooked up correctly. If the hydrostatic release, which automatically deploys the life raft when a vessel sinks, hasn’t been properly installed “it could cause problems,” he

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LIFE RAFT HANDLING An example of what happens when life rafts aren’t properly handled took place on Sept. 8, 2011, when the Trinity II, a 78'6" self-elevating liftboat, was abandoned in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche during Hurricane Nate. The National Transportation Safety Board’s review of the disaster said that four crew died because of poor weather planning and mishandling of the two life rafts. The canister containing one of the life rafts should have been thrown into the water, “which was the proper method and was clearly illustrated in the launching instructions.” Instead the raft was inflated on deck, which “caused the life raft to be blown away from the deck in the hurricane force winds and vanish in the rough seas.” The second life raft was also lost to the high winds when a wave hit the canister, causing the raft to inflate

notes. Even when hooked up properly, the hydrostatic release might not function as it should if it hasn’t been maintained according to the manufacturer’s recommendations. That was the problem with life rafts on Empress Of The North, a 300-foot passenger vessel that grounded in Southeast Alaska in 2007. None of the 206 passengers or 75 crewmembers on the seven-day cruise were injured, but when crewmembers attempted to launch the 12 life rafts,

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Life Rafts

RIG SINKING LED TO LIFE RAFT’S CREATION

he development of the Ovatek life raft was spurred on by a terrible tragedy. It started at 8 a.m. on Feb. 14, 1982, when the Ocean Ranger, a 397’x292’ self-propelled, semisubmersible offshore drilling rig was drilling the Hibernia oil field on the Grand Banks with a crew of 84 aboard. That’s when they received notice of an approaching winter storm with 90-knot winds and 37-foot waves. The final message from the Ocean Ranger came at 1:30 a.m. the following morning when the rig’s radio operator said the crew was heading to lifeboat stations. Sometime after 2:45 a.m. the Ocean Ranger capsized and sank. Two empty lifeboats and several life rafts were found but all 84 men died. Of the 22 bodies that were recovered all had died of drowning and hypothermia. The incident drove Vincent Theriault, a native of New Brunswick, Canada, to develop a life raft that would survive storms such as the one that sank the Ocean Ranger. His solution was a hard-shelled, egg-shaped survival capsule called the Esperanto 6. Another Canadian, Rene Friolet, purchased the concept and used it to launch Ovatek in 1995. In 2000, New Brunswick-based Ovatek introduced four- and seven-man models, billing them as “the world’s only No Service/Repack egg shaped fiberglass life rafts.” Eric Chiasson, Ovatek’s general manager said, “We feel like it’s the new way of doing things.” The rafts are built of two layers of fiberglass, 3/16” thick on the bottom and 1/8” on the top, with foam injected between the layers. Chiasson said that the fiberglass and foam construction prevents hypothermia. When people have been rescued in an Ovatek raft in the months of February and March they “are warm,” he said. The Ovatek 7 measures 9'3"x4'3"x3'8" (high), weighs 400 lbs. and costs $11,000. The four-person version, the $8,500 Ovatek 4, is the biggest seller. It is 6'9"x4'3"x3'8"

Ovatek

half of the hydrostatic release units malfunctioned. The pistons on the pumps connected to the hydrostatic release units had not been lubricated every other year, as required by the manufacturer, according to the NTSB summary of the accident. In addition, the evacuation slides that would lead down to the life rafts inflated upside down, probably because crewmembers had placed each raft’s valise upside down on the deck “causing them to deploy incorrectly.” Thanks to nearby vessels that came up next to the Empress Of The North, all the passengers were safely removed, including several in wheelchairs. When a life raft’s container is popped open you expect to see a raft that’s fully functional and ready to be deployed. Unless, of course, there’s something wrong with the life raft, which could be the case if its container has been leaking water for months. “We do see life rafts coming in off workboats that will be inundated with water inside the container,” said Todd Jarrall, sales manager at Viking LifeSaving Equipment in New Orleans. It’s generally from seawater coming over the bow in rough conditions. Containers have rubber gasket seals to keep the water out. “But that doesn’t always work,” said Jarrall, “It doesn’t matter (the life raft’s) brand.” Over time and especially with older life rafts the water “can ruin materials inside and will start to make seams separate on the life raft. It shortens the life span of the life raft.” The solution is to service the life raft on a regular basis. Another item that should be periodically checked is the tie-down strap that holds the life raft canister on the deck. It’s possible that UV light, saltwater and heat could cause some strap materials to become brittle. That’s why “changing your lashing is pretty important,” said Bryan Flowers, vice president of operations with LRSE in Tiverton, R.I. He allows that straps are “an afterthought” but “you definitely don’t want that to fray, rip and break when you need (the life raft) to stay on your vessel.”

The Ovatek 7 measures 9'3"x4'3"x 3'8" (high), weighs 400 lbs. and costs $11,000. and weighs 250 lbs. Instead of being inspected every year, like an inflatable life raft, Ovatek rafts only need to be inspected every four years. The Ovatek raft can be boarded on a boat’s deck in a “waiting out the story situation” and when the boat goes down will be deployed by an automatic hydrostatic release at a depth of five to 10', or the raft can be deployed from inside the raft with a manual bypass. If you have to drop the Ovatek raft in the water before boarding, it’s self-righting, said Chiasson. “It will always come up ready to be boarded” via a stainless steel boarding ladder that then folds onto the hatch. Ovatek rafts are SOLAS-A approved. A SOLAS requirement for life rafts is that they “be capable of withstanding exposure for 30 days afloat in all sea conditions.” The longest anyone has had to stay in an Ovatek raft before being rescued is “two days that we’ve heard of,” said Chiasson. Beyond two days, 30-days appears to be a slamdunk for an Ovatek 4- or 7-person life raft. It certainly wasn’t an issue for an Ovatek 7 raft that was being drift tested for Transport Canada, so in a search and rescue situation the Canadian coast guard would know “how much drift the raft will have.” The life raft was anchored near St. John, Newfoundland, until a positioning system could be installed. However, the mooring broke and the raft was lost. Well, not entirely because four months later it was found on the shores of Iceland. “Some repairs were required, a scratch here and there. Then somebody purchased it,” said Chiasson. — M. Crowley

www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

POWER FORWARD

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LOOKS BACK JUNE 1960

• M. Vance Higbee, New Orleans river marine insurance executive, was tendered a surprise dinner at Antoine’s recently, in honor of his 50 years of service with George S. Kausler Ltd. He has been president of the company for the past 32 years. • Another Dravo Corp. 3200-class towboat, the Franklin Pierce, was launched at the

company’s Neville Island shipyard near Pittsburgh recently. Purchased by Thomas Petroleum Transit Inc., Butler, Pa., the new vessel will operate between Gulf ports and Pittsburgh area terminals, pushing 16,000-ton tows of gasoline, fuel oils, and solvents. • Proposed changes in the Fair Labor Standards Act which would adversely affect the JUNE 1970 work• The U.S. has the world’s most commodious and efficient transportation system, but parts of it are not working as well as they should. Major trouble spots on the transportation scene that immediately come to mind are the recurrent existence of shortages in rail freight cars and a declining oceangoing merchant marine. Another trouble spot on the overall transportation scene concerns lack of coordiJUNE 1980 nation of

• The Canopus, built by Diesel Shipbuilding Co., Jacksonville, Fla., is already at work mooring oil tankers in the Ecuadorian port of Manta on the west coast of South America. The 46'×16'×6' tug features Detriot Diesel 8V-71 engines driving two 4-bladed 48"×36" Ellis propellers through Allison 4:1 reduction gears. That gives the 52

boat industry were vigorously opposed by spokesmen for shallow-draft carriers. Some sort of change that would raise the minimum wage from the present $1 an hour is probably in the cards. services by the various modes. • Jackson Marine Services, New Orleans, last month took delivery of the company’s newest vessel, the 109' tug Mr. Mike, built by Halter Marine.

tug a 6.5-ton bollard pull. • The Surry, a 350-passenger ferry boat delivered by Wiley Manufacturing, Port Deposit, Md., will operate between Greenhouse Point and Scotland — both on the James River in Virginia. The 200' ferry is powered by a 1,500-hp EMD diesel that turns two Columbian Bronze propellers. www.workboat.com • JUNE 2020 • WorkBoat

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WorkBoat June 2020

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