WorkBoat August 2022

Sea Level Rise • Hybrid Tour Boat • Vessel Design ®

IN BUSINESS ON THE COASTAL AND INLAND WATERS

AUGUST 2022

Rising Temps Inland operators are enjoying a strong 2022.

Andrew Packer Senior Manager, Global Application Engineering Watersport enthusiast

WHAT CAN MAKE AN ENGINE RUN SIGNIFICANTLY LONGER? 25 years of experience enables us to extend TBOs of a legendary workhorse far beyond the norm.

Providing ever cleaner, safer and more competitive solutions is always on our mind – even when we‘re not at work.

Talk to Andrew about our celebrated mtu Series 4000 engine.

www.mtu-solutions.com

Content

AUGUST 2022 VOLUME 79, NO. 8

FEATURES 18 Focus: Shored Up

The pluses and minuses of sea level rise.

22 Vessel Report: Cold Front

Advanced hybrid technology on display in the Norwegian Arctic.

30 Cover Story: River Rising

18

Barge operators are busy moving cargo on the rivers.

BOATS & GEAR 26 On the Ways

• Eastern Shipbuilding launches 8,550-cu.-yd.-capacity trailing suction hopper dredge for Weeks Marine • Snow & Company building 50' hybrid catamaran aluminum research vessel for DOE‘s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory • ReconCraft delivers 57th 21' riverine shallow draft vessel for U.S. Customs • Senesco awarded contract to build 154-passenger/vehicle ferry for Maine • Great Lakes Dredge to build second 6,500-cu.-yd.-capacity trailing suction hopper dredge at Conrad

36 Space Craft

Designs concentrate on crew comfort and more capacity.

36

AT A GLANCE 8 On the Water: Towing — Part III. 8 Captain’s Table: Operating safely during the busy summer season.

9 Energy Level: With cybersecurity, it‘s “hope for the best.”

10 WB Stock Index: WorkBoat stocks pummeled in June.

11 Insurance Watch: How to read your insurance policy.

12 Nor’easter: More protections for ocean and coastal ecosystems?

14 Inland Insider: Barge operations and Covid-19.

15 Legal Talk: Who has jurisdiction over federal dredging contracts?

NEWS LOG 16 Commerce forum will connect marine companies to foreign buyers.

16 U.S. sending Louisiana-built patrol boats to Ukraine.

16 Incoming Coast Guard Academy class has most women ever. www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

DEPARTMENTS 2 Editor’s Watch 6 Mail Bag 39 Port of Call 47 Advertisers Index 48 WB Looks Back

ON THE COVER

Campbell Transportation‘s 3,000-hp towboat Duke and tow near Morgan City, La. Photo by Capt. Joseph Graham/CTC

1

EDITOR’S WATCH

A barge bump

I

t’s been a long couple of years for most business sectors due to the pandemic, and this includes the barge industry.

When the pandemic started to take hold in 2020, barge operators began to suffer big losses as demand for barging plummeted. But operators soon continued to move products despite many challenges, including keeping crews healthy and equipment in service.

Their perseverance is at last paying off. Over the past year operators report that business has been steadily improving across all barging sectors. As Pamela Glass reports in this month’s cover story (see page 30), operators are busy again moving cargo along inland rivers, including an unusual bump in coal exports, effects of the pandemic appear to be waning, and many companies report that demand has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Barge operators report that movements of construction and steel materials are strong, coal and corn are being shipped to export markets disrupted by the war in Ukraine, and refined petroleum and petrochemicals have rebounded as refineries have boosted production. Strong barge demand and utilization, coupled with a virtual halt to new barge construction due to high steel prices, have kept barge supply tight and freight rates elevated.

“We’re off to a very strong start to 2022, with the first quarter having the highest volume that moved on the inland waterways since 2013,” Ken Ericksen, senior vice president and expert in energy, transportation and agribusiness at IHS Markit, told WorkBoat.

“It’s a big rebound that has taken place, ai16389015345_editwatch_BPA_2021.pdf and it’s been broad in scope.”

David Krapf, Editor-in-Chief

dkrapf@divcom.com

As David W. Grzebinski, president and CEO of Kirby Corp., Houston, the nation’s largest tank barge operator, put it: “As soon as Omicron started to dissipate in March, things really started hopping.”

But there are bumps in the road. A big concern for operators are labor costs and how to fill open positions both on vessels and shoreside. With labor shortages across all sectors in the U.S., barge companies are in competition with other industries that offer good salaries, signing bonuses and the option of working from home.

Hopefully, the labor situation will improve and mirror the barge supplydemand ratio, which is now in balance.

1

12/7/21

1:25 PM

WORKBOAT® (ISSN 0043-8014) is published monthly by Diversified Communications, 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 22

by Diversified Communications.

Printed in U.S.A.

2

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Jacksonville Ship Repair Located in Northeast Florida, just two nautical miles from the Atlantic Ocean, BAE Systems Jacksonville Ship Repair offers dry dock facilities to commercial ship operators and owners.

Quality service on schedule, within budget and without difficulty.

From start to finish, we are your shipyard of choice. Upfront and honest. baesystems.com/commercialshiprepair

IN BUSINESS ON THE COASTAL AND INLAND WATERS

WWW.WORKBOAT.COM

EDITOR IN CHIEF David Krapf / dkrapf@divcom.com SENIOR EDITOR Ken Hocke / khocke@divcom.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Kirk Moore / kmoore@divcom.com

BRIAN GAUVIN PHOTO

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Capt. Alan Bernstein • Bruce Buls • Michael Crowley • Dale K. DuPont • Jerry Fraser • Pamela Glass • Betsy Frawley Haggerty • Max Hardberger • Joel Milton • Jim Redden • Kathy Bergren Smith ART DIRECTOR Doug Stewart / dstewart@divcom.com EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Jeremiah Karpowicz / jkarpowicz@divcom.com ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Kim Burnham 207-842-5540 / kburnham@divcom.com Mike Cohen 207-842-5438 / mcohen@divcom.com Kristin Luke 207-842-5635 / kluke@divcom.com Krista Randall 207-842-5657 / krandall@divcom.com Danielle Walters 207-842-5634 / dwalters@divcom.com ADVERTISING COORDINATOR Wendy Jalbert 207-842-5616 / wjalbert@divcom.com

Producers of The International WorkBoat Show and Pacific Marine Expo www.workboatshow.com • www.pacificmarineexpo.com EXPOSITION SALES DIRECTOR Christine Salmon 207-842-5530 / csalmon@divcom.com

SAVE the DATE! Don’t forget to mark your calendar for the 2022 edition of the largest commercial marine tradeshow in North America.

PRESIDENT & CEO Theodore Wirth / twirth@divcom.com GROUP VICE PRESIDENT Bob Callahan / bcallahan@divcom.com PUBLISHING OFFICES Main Office 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438çPortland, ME 04112-7438 207-842-5608 • Fax: 207-842-5609 MAGAZINE SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION cs@e-circ.net • 978-671-0444 (Monday-Friday, 10 AM – 4 PM ET)

NOV. 30 - DEC. 2, 2022 NEW ORLEANS Morial Convention Center, Halls B, C, D, E & F Produced by

4

© 2022 Diversified Communications PRINTED IN U.S.A.

Presented by

WF_968400_iwbs21_save_the_date_ads.indd 4

12/13/21 9:35 AM

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

CONNECTION. IT’S WHERE THE REAL POWER LIVES. There’s an unbreakable bond between John Deere products and the people who choose them. It gives you the power to take your vessel where it needs to go, with premium John Deere quality standing behind you. And the power to work confidently knowing a global network of more than 9,000 John Deere dealers are ready to offer service and support whenever you need it. After all, when you’re out on the water, nothing is more important than feeling confident in your engine power.

And connected to the brand that backs it.

Learn more about John Deere marine engines at Deere.com/marine

MAIL BAG Preventing shipping disruptions

I

n an already stretched and troubled shipping industry, the disruption brought about by Covid has been seismic. Not only that, the differing approaches to managing the pandemic across regions and nations have created ongoing challenges for seafarers and shipping companies.

There is concern among shipping companies that they need to make up for revenue lost during Covid lockdowns. This in turn has led to greater waterway congestion as companies look to pick up additional work to make up for pandemic-related losses.

For some companies, maintenance work that would usually have been routine may have been impossible to complete due to staffing and access issues during national lockdowns. This means that some older ships are likely to be overdue for maintenance repairs

and servicing.

This all comes amid a backdrop of significant change and transition in the global maritime sector. For example, in recent years, shifts in energy consumption and increased environmental regulation means that the types of cargo vessels are carrying has changed. These different loads pose additional hazards that shipping crews require training on how to handle. Without these control measures in place, ships and crews are operating at increased risk, as seen in February this year with the fire onboard the Felicity Ace cargo ship in the Atlantic which was fueled by the lithiumion batteries of the high-end electric vehicles it was carrying.

It is not surprising therefore that incidents such as fires and collisions remain a consistent threat to vessels and crews. In turn we are seeing an increase in marine insurance claims, which may lead to higher premiums for the vessels. The incident involving the con-

tainership Ever Given, which blocked the Suez Canal in Egypt for six days in March 2021, is a case in point.

In challenging and highly congested waterways, it is essential to protect the vessels and trade that depend on safe operations in these areas. A major incident, such as that in the Suez Canal, doesn’t just impact one ship, but the livelihoods and businesses of thousands if not millions of people who depend on maritime trade.

Shipping companies must drive improvements in safety by gaining a thorough understanding of marine incidents through undertaking full and proper investigations. Learnings from these investigations must in turn ensure that actions are taken to help avoid similar incidents in the future.

Hittesh Gupta Head of Casualty Investigation BMT Singapore

We take the heat, so you don’t have to.

Cool. Because you need it.

So no matter where you operate, hot days and heavy loads will never slow you down.

GRIDCOOLER® Keel Cooler

• One Piece Head Design maintains greater structural integrity.

• Higher Silver Content Braze Joints resist fatigue and maintain the strength of surrounding material.

• Better Penetration at Braze Joints places more braze material with less heat, making joints stronger.

Omega Laser Plate™

WEKA Boxcooler®

• Over 20 Years of Experience with Copper Nickel Boxcoolers offering longer product life cycle than standard coated tube units.

• Manufactured in the USA and The Netherlands: provides the greatest product availability.

• Weka Guard and Protector eliminate the need for bulky and costly ICAF systems.

• Omega Laser Plate provides an efficient and cost effective alternative to traditional split pipe heating for bulk cargo, ballast and other applications.

• Wide Variety of Materials available for use in stainless steel, titanium, and a variety of exotic metals.

• CNC Laser Welded Plates allow for a wide range of customization to meet your specific application needs.

fernstrum.com | 1.906.863.5553 | sales@fernstrum.com | ISO 9001:2015

6

Tranter® SUPERCHANGER®

• Modular Design allows for easy disassembly for maintenance, inspection, and expansion by adding new plates.

• Highly Versatile with hundreds of plate styles, patterns, and draw depths to meet your application’s requirements.

• Wide Range of Alloys, including titanium, and a variety of gasket elastomer compounds allows precise matching to your fluid characteristics for maximum uptime.

© 2022 R.W. Fernstrum & Company. All rights reserved. FERNSTRUM® and GRIDCOOLER® are registered trademarks of R.W. Fernstrum & Company.

All other trademarks cited are the property of their respective owners.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

AT-A-GLANCE

On the Water Towing — Part III

I

BY JOEL MILTON Joel Milton works on towing vessels.

He can be reached at joelmilton@ yahoo.com.

n addition to the important details of line selection and rigging for towing alongside mentioned in the previous two columns, there are many pitfalls large and small to pay attention to.

The lines used for towing alongside will, like everything else, degrade over time with increased usage. Besides rinsing the salt out of them occasionally there is no real maintenance for lines, and you cannot fix any of the damage. All you can do is try to slow down the rate of degradation as much as possible. It’s all about protecting tow lines while they are in use and storing them properly.

Abrasion is always among the worst enemies of lines. Smooth surfaces to bear upon and run across is vital to maximizing the working life of lines.

Tracing the exact paths of the lines on all bitts, cleats, bullnoses, chocks and any other fittings used (on both the tug and the barge) and keeping them as smooth as possible is key. Rough, pitted steel

Captain’s Table Summertime and safe operations

M

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

emorial Day weekend is traditionally the unofficial start of the summer season in my area. It brings an influx of all types of personal boats as people flock to our waterways for recreation. Professional mariners must be on high alert to expect the unexpected.

On Memorial Day in Richmond, Va., a group of 12 young people in kayaks and paddleboards unexpectedly went over a dam in high water on the James River, resulting in the drowning of two and a harrowing rescue of the others by first responders.

I was recently out on the Ohio River aboard the Belle of Cincinnati when I witnessed a close encounter between a pleasure boat full of people and a southbound tow of 16 barges. The small pleasure boat was anchored in the middle of the river. As the tow started through the first bridge, the pilot probably could not see the pleasure boat. But when he got down to the second bridge, he saw the boat and began a series of whistle blows. Unfortunately, the pilot could not get the attention of the small recreational vessel. As the tow continued downriver it sounded the danger signal to no avail

will act like a cheese grater, and will slowly (or not so slowly) shred your lines. Non-skid decks act like coarse sandpaper on deck lines when they are dragged across it.

Chafing gear is often very beneficial, even over smooth surfaces, as friction causes damage too.

Tank barges must have an emergency towing assembly rigged outboard on one side, and that should have sufficient chafing gear on it in proximity to the deck fittings where your lines cross over it. This is less than ideal but far better than nothing.

Where and how lines are stored directly affects their usability and lifespan. In particular, prolonged direct exposure to the sun will shorten a line’s lifespan, often dramatically. Stowing everything below decks is impractical most of the time.

Something I don’t see often on tug decks anymore are strategically placed line boxes. Having the ability to stow lines close by but out of the elements can make them last considerably longer.

In winter the boxes can help keep lines dry and unfrozen. It would be nice to see them make a comeback.

and it started backing hard. As the scene unfolded, it appeared that the tow would not be able to avoid running over the recreational boat. I was about to make an all-hands-on deck call to my crew when the small boat pulled up its anchor and moved out of the way.

Similar scenes will unfortunately occur over and over again this summer. How do we prevent or reduce these occurrences? By requiring all recreational boaters to have a license. This would ensure that they have training and a good understanding of the maritime rules-of-the-road. Recreational boating has become so popular that it demands a higher level of training and understanding. To allow untrained individuals to operate recreational boats on busy navigable waterways is akin to allowing unlicensed individuals to drive cars on our nation’s highways. It is simply unsafe.

I support giving access to all who wish to enjoy our nation’s waterways, but we must do it safely.

Education, training and licensing are the keys to ensuring the safety and well-being of everyone.

I strongly encourage the Coast Guard to stress the importance of providing good customer service in their inspector training programs. After all, isn’t it all about working together to promote safety and our shared responsibility to protect the lives of passengers and crew? www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

AT-A-GLANCE

Energy Level Cybersecurity: Hope for the best

WorkBoat GOM Indicators APR. '22 WTI Crude Oil 105.18 Baker Hughes Rig Count 13 U.S. Oil Production (millions bpd) 11.9

JUNE '22 120.92 16 12.0*

JUNE '21 72.98 14 11.1

Sources: Baker-Hughes; U.S. EIA *Estimated

GOM Rig Count (June '21 - June '22)

BY JIM REDDEN, CORRESPONDENT

H

MAY '22 110.32 15 11.9*

18

igh-profile breaches notwithstanding, the energy sector has largely embraced a reactive, rather than preventative, posture when it comes to cybersecurity, according to the results of a global survey.

“We are concerned when we hear that some energy firms may still be taking a ‘hope for the best’ position on cybersecurity,” said Trond Solberg, managing director, cybersecurity, for DNV, which along with Longitude, a Financial Times company, surveyed 948 energy professionals in February and March. Fewer than 31% of respondents, including those in the increasingly digitalized oil and gas sector, “assert confidently” that they know what steps they should take to mitigate cyber risks, researchers said in “The Cyber Priority” report released in June.

“It will be a tragedy if it takes a series of catastrophic but preventable attacks on control systems – resulting in a less safe operating environment across the industry – for them to re-

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

OCT

NOV

think their approach,” Solberg said.

One of the biggest challenges in combating industrial cyberattacks is the rapid elimination of the so-called “air gap” that traditionally segregated critical operational technology (OT) networks from their more protected, but more vulnerable, information technology (IT) systems. “Most industries are interconnected, driven by the requirement for access to data and analytics,” said Jalal Bouhdada, founder and CEO of Applied Risk BV, The Netherlands,

DEC

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

a DNV company.

Companies, likewise, need more experts in cyber on their payrolls, especially those well versed in both IT and OT systems. “There’s a shortage of industrial cyber professionals,” said Leo Simonovich, vice president and global head of industrial and digital security with Siemens Energy. “And when you have a massive talent shortage, you need to band together to create leverage, especially if you are a small or medium-size operator.”

GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK COMPANY, LLC

WE’RE HIRING!

CHIEF ENGINEER OF UNLIMITED HORSEPOWER ON HOPPER DREDGE VESSELS GREAT LAKES DREDGE & DOCK COMPANY, LLC IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

JOIN US.

9811 KATY FREEWAY, SUITE 1200, HOUSTON, TX 77024 • 346-359-1010 • INFO@GLDD.COM • GLDD.COM

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

9

AT-A-GLANCE

WorkBoat Composite Index WorkBoat stocks post big losses in June, falling 400 points

I

n June, the WorkBoat Composite Index got hammered, losing almost 400 points, or 12%. The PHLX Oil Service Sector Index lost even more, 19%, dwarfing percentage losses posted by the S&P and Dow. Losers topped winners in June by a ratio of more than 7-1.

Among the big percentage losers

STOCK CHART INDEX COMPARISONS Operators Suppliers Shipyards WorkBoat Composite PHLX Oil Service Index Dow Jones Industrials Standard & Poors 500

was Transocean Ltd., the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, which saw its shares drop over 19% in June, despite oil prices over $120 bbl. in late June.

“While the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the resulting sanctions certainly contributed to these higher prices and focused the world’s attention Source: FinancialContent Inc. www.financialcontent.com

5/31/22 425.83 4,733.66 4,215.03 3,254.22 81.84 32,990.12 4,132.15

6/30/22 377.50 3,973.86 4,238.11 2,856.95 66.29 30,775.43 3,785.38

NET CHANGE -48.33 -759.80 23.08 -397.27 -15.55 -2,214.69 -346.77

PERCENT CHANGE -11.35% -16.05% 0.55% -12.21% -19.00% -6.71% -8.39%

on the importance and value of energy security, we believe that the persistent underinvestment by E&P companies to replace the reserves has resulted in diminished capacity to produce hydrocarbons globally serving as the primary driver of sustained higher oil prices,” said Jeremy Thigpen, the company’s CEO, during Transocean’s May 3 earnings call with analysts.

“As you know, over the past few years, some of the capital that certain E&P companies may have previously earmarked for investments in reserve replacement and production growth was instead distributed to their shareholders in the form of dividends and buy backs as well as invested in various energy transition initiatives,” Thigpen said. “All else being equal, this has left them with less capital to invest in, plan for and develop offshore projects.”

— David Krapf

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

YOUR PARTNER ON THE WATER. HELPING YOU NAVIGATE EVERY WATERWAY.

Whether you’re powering an offshore service vessel, a passenger vessel, or an inland pushboat, Louisiana Cat has the right engine for your hard working fleet. We focus on you, the customer, and the reliability, safety and profitability of your business. Let us help you navigate every waterway. Visit us online to request an engine quote for your next project: www.LouisianaCat.com/Marine.

10

WorkBoat Mag 2022.indd 1

2/3/2022 10:44:36 AM www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

AT-A-GLANCE

Insurance Watch How to read your insurance policy

I

BY DAN BOOKHAM Dan Bookham is a vice president with Allen Insurance & Financial. He specializes in longshore, offshore and shipyard risk. He can be reached at 1-800-236-4311 or dbookham@ allenif.com.

nsurance policies have five parts: declarations, insuring agreements, conditions, exclusions and endorsements. Smart mariners review each of these in order, as they define the rights and responsibilities that come with the coverage purchased.

Declarations. This is the what, where, when, by whom and for whom, price and coverage period of the policy. Make sure the named insureds are correct, any lenders are shown, and that the right coverage lines are in place.

Insuring agreements. These explain the coverage you’ve bought in detail. An “open perils” policy covers everything except what’s covered in the exclusions. A “named perils” policy is for a list of specific things. Depending on the appetite of the insurer, certain additional perils can be agreed to and listed, usually by endorsement.

Conditions. The insurer uses this section to outline what you must do to collaborate with them

and in turn what they will do to help you get paid or to defend you in the event of a loss. This section also lays out how to file a claim. Pay close attention to the conditions, ideally before you file a claim, since following the rules of the road in the policy will expedite claims and lead to a smoother resolution of any call on your insurance coverage.

Exclusions. While the word itself fits certain stereotypes of insurance, this section is actually driven by logic and common sense. You can’t deliberately sink your boat or burn your warehouse and expect to get paid, and you can’t expect your hull and P&I coverage to respond to an automobile accident. Exclusions exist to ensure your policy remains affordable, that it covers reasonable risks associated with the appropriate operations, and that exposures outside the realm of insurability aren’t subject to your policy.

Endorsements. These can be used to expand or limit coverage, either at your request or at the discretion of the insurance company. Because a policy is a contract, these serve as customized amendments that ensure that the coverage you buy is tailored to your unique operations.

The Trusted Source for Quality Systems

www.imtra.com

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

508.995.7000

11

AT-A-GLANCE

Nor’easter

NOAA seeks to expand protections for ocean and coastal ecosystems

E

BY KIRK MOORE, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Contributing Editor Kirk Moore was a reporter for the Asbury Park Press for over 30 years before joining WorkBoat in 2015. He has also been an editor for WorkBoat’s sister publication, National Fisherman, for over 25 years.

12

xpanding protection for ocean ecosystems — now a keystone in the Biden administration’s climate change initiatives — could have big effects on maritime industries.

To meet the administration’s climate goals, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is “pursuing a holistic approach to curbing greenhouse gas emissions and building resilience to climate change and its impacts, including by conserving and restoring ocean and coastal ecosystems.”

In the works are plans for the expansion of national marine sanctuaries and protections for endangered species, such as the North Atlantic right whale. The administration has lent support to another broad goal of protecting 30% of U.S. waters by 2030 — the so-called “30-by-30” initiative.

All that could affect some of the busiest waters

in the Northeast.

The latest sanctuary proposal would draw a protective boundary around the Hudson Canyon, the largest submarine canyon off the U.S. Atlantic coast. It extends southeast from its namesake Hudson River outlet at New York Harbor, cutting through the edge of the continental shelf to 350 miles offshore.

“Hudson Canyon’s grand scale and diverse structure – steep slopes, firm outcrops, diverse sediments, flux of nutrients, and areas of upwelling – make it an ecological hotspot for a vast array of marine wildlife,” according to a synopsis issued June 8 by NOAA. Protecting that wildlife is likely to be a top priority in any plan that emerges.

The sanctuary proposal immediately provoked alarm among commercial and recreational fishing fleets that work off New York and New Jersey.

At the height of tuna season, the Hudson Canyon recreational fleet “looks like a city out there at night,” added Jim Budi of the American Sword and Tuna Harvesters, a longline fishermen’s group.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

“There’s nothing clear to what they (NOAA) intend with commercial and recreational fishing,” said Robert Vanesse, executive director of Saving Seafood, a fisheries advocacy group.

The Hudson Canyon extends out toward the Gulf Stream.

Far offshore there, the resulting eddies of warmer waters make a world-famous hotspot for catching swordfish and tuna. The “New York bigeye” tuna that command top prices in sushi restaurants come from the region.

Under the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, NOAA can open a public process “to designate and protect areas of the ocean and Great Lakes with special national significance.”

Sanctuary designations have goals including conservation of marine wildlife, habitat and cultural resources, promoting sustainable uses, expanding ocean science and monitoring, and providing for long-term management.

The planning process for the canyon sanctuary is wide open for suggestions as to how NOAA should set sanctuary boundaries, goals and management priorities. Information about the process and public hearings is online at sanctuaries.noaa.gov/hudson-canyon/.

The Hudson proposal itself springs from a 2016 nomination to NOAA by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a nonprofit group with a long history of involvement with protecting whales. The endangered north Atlantic right whale — a species now estimated at only 336 animals — frequents the continental shelf where the Hudson Canyon descends.

NOAA has been under increasing pressure to reduce the whales’ decline by imposing restrictions on fishing gear and ship speeds off the East Coast. With the changing climate, whales will need even wider protections, a new study says.

Led by the New England Aquarium, researchers from seven institutions and agencies reviewed 20 years of data tracking right whale seasonal movements. They found the whale population has shifted its Northeast feeding and migration patterns significantly, as sea temperatures rise.

Their report, published in June in the journal Global Change Biology, suggests that government-mandated protections for right whales – already requiring restrictions on vessel speed limits and fishermen’s lobster and fish trap lines and buoys – will need to be adjusted as the whales shift their movements and habitats.

Warming climate trends in the Gulf of Maine may have led right whales to feed for longer periods of time in Cape Cod Bay before making the trek north to the Gulf of St. Lawrence when food is more plentiful there, the researchers wrote.

“Vessel speed limits and fishing restrictions in Cape Cod Bay were designed to coincide with the historical peak in North Atlantic right whale habitat use,” according to the New England Aquarium. “The research illustrates the continued need for government agencies to alter protective measures for threatened and endangered whales, as those animals adapt to their feeding and migration patterns in response to climate change.” www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

13

AT-A-GLANCE

Inland Insider Barge lines and Covid

W

BY PAMELA GLASS Pamela Glass is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for WorkBoat. She reports on the congressional committees and federal agencies that affect the maritime industry, including the Coast Guard, Marad and Army Corps of Engineers.

e’re all learning to live with Covid — wearing masks less, going out more — and this includes the workboat industry.

While inland barge companies have kept some screening and testing protocols in place, concerns are waning about Covid-19 and its impact on the barging business. Reflecting what is happening nationally, operators report a drop in positive tests and fewer symptoms among their workers.

Things got pretty bad this winter, especially in January and February with the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. Several barge companies had so many workers out sick that they were forced to sideline boats and found it difficult to hire new workers due to the tight labor market. During the pandemic, the barge industry never stopped working as it was considered an essential industry to the economy.

“Omicron hit us pretty hard,” David Grzebin-

ski, president and CEO of Kirby Corp., the nation’s largest tank barge operator, said in an April 28 earnings call. “At one point we had 15 boats down. We had to backfill with charters or other boats. It caused a lot of costs and disruptions. The good news is that it started to dissipate in March and things really started hopping.”

For the most part, Covid protocols have become integrated into daily operations, becoming another aspect of doing business and keeping crews safe.

“Members are dealing with it, the same way they deal with other operational challenges, like high or low water, ” Jennifer Carpenter, president and CEO of American Waterways Operators, said in an interview. “For better or worse, we now have two-and-one-half years of experience dealing with this thing, but (the pandemic) is not gone.”

“I think we’re in a good spot with it,” added Austin Golding of Golding Barge Line, Vicksburg, Miss. “We’re at a point that hopefully we can treat this as another illness. It’s not an operational hurdle for us at this point,” he said, adding Covid-19 vaccinations are still required of new hires.

Excellence in design and naval architecture – from concept design to bespoke solution

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

CMY

K

Get in touch ship-design@bmtglobal.com

GLADDING-HEARN SHIPBUILDING

Duclos Corporation

14

gladding-hearn.com

www.bmt.org

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

AT-A-GLANCE

Legal Talk Who has admiralty jurisdiction over federal dredging contracts with the Corps?

W

ith the recent boost in federal infrastructure spending on ports and waterways, an increase in dredging work is expected. Historically, contracts with the Army Corps of Engineers are brought in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, which hears disputes arising from federal contracts.

After over 150 years of the Court of Federal Claims exercising jurisdiction over government dredging contract disputes, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit analyzed whether such contracts actually fall within a federal district court’s admiralty jurisdiction. Finding that dredging a navigable waterway protects and facilitates maritime commerce, in J-Way Southern v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the First Circuit held that a federal district court has jurisdiction over federal dredging contract disputes. This decision provides an avenue for dredging contractors to choose a federal court that is potentially more convenient or favorable for disputes with the Corps of Engineers.

J-Way Southern won a contract to perform dredging operations for the Corps. However, the Corps terminated the contract claiming J-Way’s performance was deficient because J-Way did not complete the work within the timeframe set in the contract. J-Way filed suit, alleging improper termination and breach of the contract by the Corps. In response, the Corps argued J-Way’s case was time-barred under the Contract Disputes Act (CDA). The Corps also filed a motion to dismiss based on lack of subject matter jurisdiction, arguing that only the Court of Federal Claims had jurisdiction over a dispute based on a federal dredging contract. The district court denied the motion.

On appeal, the First Circuit found that it had jurisdiction to decide the case because the dredging contract forming the basis of the suit was a maritime contract. The Corps’ argument against the district court’s exercise of jurisdiction rested on the historical practice, dating back to 1857, of the Court of Federal Claims hearing government dredging contract disputes. However, as the court noted, no court had ever actually analyzed whether the Court of Federal Claims had jurisdiction in a case such as this.

While generally the Court of Federal Claims has exclusive jurisdiction over contract claims against the U.S. in excess of $10,000, the CDA vests admiralty jurisdiction in the federal district courts for lawsuits against the U.S. that arise out of maritime contracts. Thus, jurisdiction rested upon a finding that a dredging contract meets the test for maritime contracts.

Whether a contract is maritime depends upon whether the contract “has reference to maritime service or maritime transactions.” The court’s inquiry focuses “on whether the principal objective of a contract is maritime commerce.” The answer depends on the “nature and character” of the contract rather

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

than the location, land vs. water, of the services performed.

The court agreed with J-Way that “[d]redging a navigable waterway is traditionally a maritime activity, and such a dredging contract facilitates maritime commerce.”

The regulatory definition of “dredging,” on which the Corps relied, referred to dredging as a type of conBY CINDY struction, thus the Corps asserted the MULLER “principal objective” of the contract was construction rather than mariCindy Muller is a maritime partner time commerce. However, the court in Jones Walker’s found the regulatory definition did not Houston office. She determine the jurisdictional question can be reached at 713-437-1859 where the “principal objective” of the or cmuller@ construction was to aid maritime comjoneswalker.com. merce.

It remains to be seen whether other circuit courts will follow the First Circuit and assert admiralty jurisdiction over dredging contracts with the Corps.

RApide 4600-Z3 | HB Hydra 15

NEWS LOG

Commerce forum connects U.S. industry to foreign buyers

News Bitts U.S. sending Ukraine Metal Shark-built patrol boats

I

n an effort to help Ukraine better protect its coastline, waterways and ports, the U.S. is providing the country with a range of defense equipment, including 23 welded-aluminum military vessels built by Louisiana-based Metal Shark. In June it was announced that six of the Navy’s new 40 PB (patrol boat) maritime combat vessels would be sent to Ukraine as part of a $450 million security assistance package.

Department of Commerce trade forum is set for September.

P

U.S. Commercial Service

ursuing international markets in marine and maritime industries can be challenging. But with the right information, it can also be a profitable and sustainable business venture.

“U.S. industry can be very competitive internationally,” said Henry Irizarry, director of international sales at Metal Shark Boats, Jeanerette, La. “It’s all about finding the right niche and relentlessly pursuing what you’re best at.” Irizarry’s strategy appears successful, with Metal Shark awarded more than $50 million in direct contracts with foreign buyers since 2015, he said.

Like so many entrepreneurs in the commercial marine industry, Irizarry will travel to Providence, R.I., Sept. 20-22, 2022, to take advantage of coordinated global business support provided by the U.S. Commercial Service at this year’s Discover Global Markets: The Blue Economy — the Department of Commerce’s signature domestic forum focused on international business development for U.S. exporters.

Jason Wilson, director of the U.S. Commercial Service office in Houston, said the Commerce Department forum isn’t a trade show or a conference.

“It’s a unique opportunity for U.S. companies in key marine and maritime subsectors to gain access to actionable information, hone their market expansion strategies, and even land customers who are prime buyers that send U.S. products or services internationally, all in one place and at a fraction of the cost of traveling abroad or buying booth space,” he said.

Companies confirmed for the event stretch from India, Australia, Korea, and Japan to Africa, Europe, and South and North America.

Bob Wetta, president of DSC Dredge, Reserve, La., is a longtime member of the Louisiana District Export Council.

“It’s easier for companies to stay 100% focused on their existing domestic customers,” he said. “But we know statistically that diversification means resilience when markets downturn or supply chains disrupt.”

“Looking at global market opportunities, 98% of the world’s consumers are outside of the U.S., so segmenting that, creating a plan, and pursuing new horizons with some guidance from experts along the way are the smartest moves,” Metal Shark’s Irizarry said. — WorkBoat Staff

16

Women make up large share of incoming Coast Guard Academy class

A

pproximately 300 women and men arrived at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., June 27 to start Day One of their training as part of the incoming class of 2026. According to current estimates, about 43% of the class are women, the most in an incoming class ever, and 38% are from underrepresented minority groups.

106, mostly children, flee June excursion boat fire

S

ome 106 passengers, mostly schoolchildren, were evacuated when a fire broke out on the excursion vessel Spirit of Norfolk on June 7, according to officials at Navy Station Norfolk (Va.) and local news media. Crew got the passengers into life vests and safely disembarked to the 95' excursion vessel Victory Rover and returned to Norfolk’s Town Point Park.

Go to workboat.com/news for the latest commercial marine industry news, or download our mobile app.

Search WorkBoat in your app store on your mobile device.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

McDermott Light & Signal

Portable Barge Navigation Lights Solar or battery powered barge navigation lights for unmanned barges per UL1104

Solar Marker Lights

1 meter

Dredge Lights

1 to 3 mile visibility for aids to navigation and applications such as buoys, docks, barges, and temporary lighting

1 meter

Meets 2 mile requirement for marking of dredge pipelines

Regulatory Buoys

Available for all applications

Navigation Lights Platform Marker Lights

*Available with or without lighting*

For vessels greater or less than 50 meters Certified to meet UL 1104 and Subchapter M

Permanent mount LED lighting for bridges, docks, and barges

Certified Portable Anchor Lights Portable and long lasting

Peep (Steering) Lights AC/DC LED Floodlights

Constructed for rugged marine and commercial environments.

Meets requirements of UL 1598A

Available with AC/DC connection, solar or battery operated

718-456-3606 | www.mcdermottlight.com workboat@mcdermottlight.com

FOCUS Sea Level Rise

Shored Up The accelerating creep of sea level rise.

NOAA

New U.S. regional sea level scenarios developed by NOAA and partners will help coastal communities plan for and adapt to risks from rising sea levels.

This photo shows flooding in Norfolk, Va., on May 16, 2014.

By Bruce Buls, Editor-at-Large

T

ime was, SLR meant “single lens reflex,” at least to me and many others. That’s a type of camera with detachable lenses and a hinged mirror inside. Now, increasingly, it means “sea level rise.”

It’s an acronym we may get used to because SLR (the wet kind) is upon us and will only rise as the planet continues to warm. Other acronyms to add to your vocabulary include EWL (extreme water level), HTF (high tide flooding) and MHHW (mean higher high water).

For mariners, MLLW (mean lower low water) has long been the salient number to keep in mind as that represents the amount of water available to float your boat. Now, as sea levels rise, there’s more of that under your keel.

At the same time, as MHHW goes up, so does shoreside flooding and ultimately inundation. When Hurricane Sandy hit New York and New Jersey in 2012, peak water levels measured by local tide

18

gauges were between eight and nine feet above MHHW at the time.

Tide gauges have been measuring the rise and fall of coastal tides for well over 100 years. There’s one in San Francisco Bay that dates back almost 150 years.

Before digitization, tide gauges were large measuring sticks housed inside “tide houses” with pen-and-ink recorders. Now, acoustic sounding tubes and pressure sensors – or newer microwave radar water-level sensors – measure the tidal variations and transmit data directly to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) scientists.

Satellite telemetry is also used to track water levels.

MHHW is also the level used to visualize the reach of rising waters in NOAA’s Sea Level Rise Viewer, an online tool with maps of the entire U.S. coastline. With the viewer, users can see coastal areas’ current MHHW and then, using a slider, see the effects of rising sea levels in one-foot increments, up to 10'. It’s really quite dramatic, as you

move the slider higher, more area turns blue, meaning it’s inundated. It’s under water. The viewer isn’t predicting 10' of SLR specifically but shows it as a possibility and what it would mean. Ten feet, however, is within the higher range of projected SLR by 2150.

The Sea Level Rise Viewer is a companion of the recently released 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report from NOAA. This report builds on a similar report from 2017, but with updated data, models and projections. One principal takeaway from the new report is a predicted sea level rise of about one foot between now and 2050. That’s about equal to the SLR of the previous 100 years, so the rate is accelerating.

“Current and future emissions matter,” NOAA Administrator Rick Spinrad said during a video presentation that followed the report’s release, “but this will happen no matter what we do about emissions. If emissions continue at the current rate, it’s likely we see two feet of sea level rise by the end of the century, and that estimate is on the conservative side.”

BALLOONING SLR SLR is accelerating for three reasons: one, the oceans are expanding as they and the atmosphere are getting warmer; two, the oceans are filling up with more water from melting ice on land; and three, coastlines are generally sinking, a result of compaction and underground extractions of water and petroleum.

(Except for Southeast Alaska, which is unique in that sea levels are dropping as the mountains are rising.)

NOAA is the lead agency for this report — a multiagency and academic effort that included NASA, the Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Defense, and Florida International University and Rutgers University.

These groups expect that the report and viewer will be used by coastal communities as they plan for these coming changes and develop mitigation strate-

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Sea Level Rise gies. “We predict a flood regime shift,” said William Sweet, a NOAA oceanographer, “meaning that minor nuisance flooding, especially on the East and Gulf coasts, is likely to become damaging flooding. That extra foot around the country is just going to reach farther inland and be deeper and more severe.

“The tide is going to go where it wants to go,” he said, “so this will also affect areas where salt meets fresh, and saltwater intrusion becomes a problem for aquafers and agriculture.”

Beyond 2050, the report provides various scenarios with a wide range of potential increases. Looking to 2100 and 2150, the report says coastal mean water levels could rise by as much as 7.2' by 2100 and 12.8' by 2150, relative to 2000. Or it could be as little as 1.97' by 2100 and 2.6' by 2150, according to the report. The determinant, of course, is global warming. The warmer it gets, the higher the water. The giant ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are especially vulnerable to rising temperatures and contain enough water to raise sea levels by at least 10' by sometime in the next century.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S., in 2022, creeping sea level rise has not yet emerged as a significant national issue.

Regionally, however, the awareness of SLR and its effects may be more prevalent. Chesapeake Bay, on the shores of Maryland and Virginia, is a “hot spot” for rising tides and sinking lands.

The historical relationship between CO2 concentrations, global temperatures and sea levels is stark when graphically depicted.

In Earl Swift’s 2018 book, “Chesapeake Requiem – A Year with the Watermen of Vanishing Tangier Island,” the author wrote: “Full moons pull water not only over its edges, but straight up through the ground, turning yards into ponds. In fact, the lower Chesapeake’s relative sea-level rise — the one-two punch of water coming up and land going down — is among the highest on Earth, and of all the towns and cities situated on the estuary, none is as vulnerable, none as captive to the effects of climate change, as Tangier.” The legendary watermen who pioneered the blue crab fishery face a flooded future

and may well become America’s first climate refugees.

Another well-known island farther south, Parris Island, the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in South Carolina, is also threatened by rising seas. A recent article in The Island Packet in Hilton Head Island, S.C., reported that the Marines and partner organizations are applying for grant money to construct oyster-shell reefs bundled in wire to help protect and preserve the low-lying island. The artificial reefs would encourage the expansion of salt marshes, which help buffer wave energy and decrease flooding and erosion. Even so, “That facility has a limited lifespan,” said Rob Young, a geology professor at Western Carolina University in neighboring North Carolina. “As long as sea level continues to rise, the mission of that facility is going to have to be accomplished somewhere else. I can’t tell you whether that’s 10 years from now or 50 years from now, but it will happen.”

NOAA

SOME BENEFIT

Sea level along the U.S. coastline is projected to rise, on average, 10"-12" in the next 30 years (2020 - 2050), which will be as much as the rise measured over the last 100 years (1920 - 2020), according to the 2022 Sea Level Rise Technical Report.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

On the other side of the U.S., in Puget Sound, Wash., Matt Nichols of Nichols Brothers Boat Builders said his company tracks water levels closely because the boatyard sits practically on the edge of Whidbey Island’s Holmes Harbor.

“We haven’t seen any change at all,” he 19

said. “We live and die by the tides, so we know what’s been happening over the 58 years we’ve been here. We’ve seen water over the road and into the yard many times, like during especially high tides and flooding rivers nearby, but we have ways of sandbagging and that type of thing. But the positive side of it is, with deeper water, we can launch deeperdraft vessels.”

A few others may also benefit from rising waters, like marine construction companies that build artificial reefs, seawalls and levees. Other construction will also be needed to repair or raise roadways. Drainage systems will need rebuilding, and many shoreside structures will need to be raised above encroaching tides and storm surge.

“If we want to minimize the impact of sea-level rise in the next century, here’s how we do it: stop burning fossil fuels and move to higher ground,” writes Jeff Goodell in his 2017 book, “The Water

20

Bruce Buls

FOCUS Sea Level Rise

Nichols Brothers Boat Builders tracks water levels closely because the shipyard is located on the edge of Whidbey Island, Wash.'s, Holmes Harbor.

Will Come.”

“We wouldn’t even have to stop burning fossil fuels tomorrow. If we did it by 2050, that would be good enough. It wouldn’t entirely halt sea-level rise, but it would avoid the worst of it. Instead

of six, seven, eight feet, or more by the end of the century, we might get two or three. We would still need to retreat from the low-lying coastlines, but instead of a stampede, it could be a leisurely stroll.”

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

NEW!

Proving

CAN

You DO IT

All Industry-leading Alerting and PGN Filtering

Multi-network Bridging NMEA 2000®, 0183, J1939

Browser-based Sensor Management

SmartBoat® System

We Put the Smart in Sensor Connectivity Each SmartBoat module can simultaneously convert multiple NMEA 0183, J1939 and analog level/temperature/pressure senders to NMEA 2000 while controlling and monitoring DC voltages and circuits – all with a single cable connection to the network. SmartBoat modules significantly reduce the cost and space required to install a complete monitoring solution.

Sensor Programming and Control

Wireless Connec Connectivity

Remote Diagnostics

Universal Sensor Connectivity

AIRMAR.COM SmartBoat® is the marine networking component of the SmartFlex™ System.

SmartBoat is a registered trademark of Airmar Technology Corporation.

VESSEL REPORT Passenger Vessels

Cold Front

By Jeremiah Karpowicz, Editorial Director

I

f a boat makes a sound in the Arctic, will wildlife flee?

That’s not a rhetorical question but one that Arctic tourism operator Hurtigruten Svalbard has to deal with on multiple levels. As the eldest tour operator on the cluster of islands that reside about halfway between the northwest coast of Norway and the North Pole, the Norway-based company understands the impact their boat tours have on the landscape, which see wildlife ranging from walruses to seals to numerous types of whales flee when hearing the roar of their engines from hundreds of feet away. That scattering of wildlife runs counter to the audience experience the organization seeks to provide, as well as to their commitment to sustainable tourism.

A desire to change how visitors can experience these natural wonders while also transforming values that are the foundation of their business led to the creation of the Kvitbjørn, a new closed hybrid boat. Designed for exploration in the heart of the Arctic, the 48'×13.8', 12-passenger Kvitbjørn (Polar Bear) is powered by a complete helm-to-propeller Volvo Penta twin D4-320 DPI Aquamatic hybrid-electric solution. Integrated 22

The Kvitbjørn sits in Longyearbyen Harbor, awaiting the special launch ceremony.

into a Marell Boats M15, the Marell and Volvo Penta teams worked together to create a solution that would provide the ultimate sightseeing experience while also advancing sustainable solutions at sea.

The team at Volvo Penta invited members of the media out to Svalbard for the formal unveiling and first official voyage of the Kvitbjørn to determine whether or not they had succeeded with both.

WORLD’S NORTHERNMOST TOWN To say that Svalbard is like another world doesn’t convey the sense that the uninitiated get when flying over and then landing in a place that doesn’t just look cold but is literally frozen in the warmest of times. This Norwegian archipelago is only about 800 miles from the North Pole. The average summer water temperature is around 0°C. The largest settlement is Longyearbyen which has a population of just over 2,000 people, enabling it to become known as the world’s northernmost town. www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Jeremiah Karpowicz photos

Advanced hybrid technology near the top of the world.

Passenger Vessels That small number of people has allowed the native animal population to remain relatively stable, with signs warning of polar bears being an especially stark reminder that this world still belongs to those animals.

The local economy is primarily geared towards tourism and scientific research. While year-round coal mining operations defined Longyearbyen in the early 20th century and continue to be the biggest industry on Svalbard, the last coal mine in operation is set to shut down in 2023. The future of the town is very much connected to the tourism industry, but it’s a tricky needle to thread. Too much growth can ruin the appeal of such locations not to mention the settings themselves. In a place that’s as serene and untouched as Svalbard, finding that balance is essential.

Doing so is exactly what Hurtigruten Svalbard is prioritizing in the short and long term. As a full-service provider of experiences that make Arctic dreams a reality, the organization offers everything from dog sledding to kayak paddling to ice caving to skiing expeditions.

The Hurtigruten team knows better than anyone how such experiences can tax these same landscapes though, an understanding that drove their commitment to sustainable tourism.

Jonas Karnerfors, sales project manager at Volvo Penta and Johan Inden, president, Volvo Penta Marine Business Unit, on the deck of the Kvitbjørn during the launch ceremony.

“Our ambition is to be the most sustainable travel operator in the world,” said Henrik Lund, managing director of Hurtigruten Foundation. “That’s not the cheapest way of doing business, but it is the best way. It would have been easier for us to buy a regular boat, but it wouldn’t have been the right thing to do.”

Their commitment to sustainability partially drove initial conversations with the Volvo Penta team, but considering the immediate impacts was also a priority. For example, boat tour operators could see the sound of their engine caused the wildlife to scatter, preventing

A look at the interior of the Kvitbjørn, showing the Volvo D4-330 DPI engines that power the new boat.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

guides from being able to showcase the true wonders of Svalbard. The relative silence of the electric motor changes these experiences for the better.

SUSTAINABILITY AND INNOVATION Climbing aboard a ship that is moored next to others that look as if they’re completely iced over contributes to the otherworldly experience of Svalbard.

Mountains that look like they’re made of snow loom on every side, and the slightest breeze is something you end up feeling in your bones.

That sense of calm and cold is the core experience of Svalbard. With a top speed of 30 knots, a cruising speed of 24 knots, the boat effortlessly moved out toward what looked like the endless mountains of the archipelago. But the shift to silent cruising when we were able to get out on deck and see everything took it to another level.

Out in the middle of nowhere aboard the Kvitbjørn, you can literally hear the ice bob in the water. A walrus that was taking a break on the ice shore didn’t dive into the water. Birds seeming to skim across the water were on every side. All of which provided a sense of not just seeing these settings but actually being part of them.

“We almost did a deal with Marell for a regular drive train, but then we met with the Volvo team to explore the 23

VESSEL REPORT Passenger Vessels

The Kvitbjørn’s battery package — 800V/100kWh.

option to have something more sustainable, but also something that made business sense,” said Tore Hoem, adventures director at Hurtigruten Svalbard. “To us though, it was really about the guest experience. And the key is silence. The silence is the coolest thing about it.”

That focus on audience experience is connected to what Hoem mentioned with the product making business sense.

The deeper commitment to sustainability that the company prides itself on is evident in Svalbard, where you can see why this ecosystem is one that needs to be respected, cared for and preserved.

At the same time, providing a better ex-

and then being able to design for it.

This boat was designed for the Arctic waters of Svalbard but how would this hybrid solution need to be different than just another drivetrain? Those weren’t answers that we had when we began the initial conversations, but we’re committed to testing and learning what can work anywhere and everywhere.”

Volvo Penta’s vision is to become a world leader in sustainable power solutions, with a vision to be a net-zero emissions company by 2050. Their fullsystems approach is not just about more sustainability but higher performance, which is the only way that vision for

'We’re operating in such a harsh environment, where everything has to work.'

– Jonas Karnerfors, sales project manager at Volvo Penta perience makes business sense because it means customers will keep coming back and recommending trips to friends and colleagues.

Being able to cultivate these new experiences was a technology question that was addressed in the initial meetings between the Hurtigruten and Volvo Penta teams, but the connection between technology and core business values runs deeper for both teams.

“We believe that sustainability and innovation are connected,” said Johan Inden, president of Volvo Penta’s marine business unit. “Innovation comes from being able to understand the use case 24

sustainability will become a reality. The capability and reliability of this technology gets pushed to the limit in Svalbard.

“We’re operating in such a harsh environment, where everything has to work,” said Jonas Karnerfors, sales project manager at Volvo Penta from the deck of the Kvitbjørn. “We needed to think more carefully about the job to be done, which is why we knew we had to create something that would seamlessly shift between driving modes.”

Connecting innovation and sustainability isn’t just about technology though, as this project also marked the debut of an e-mobility-as-a-service

model from Volvo Penta. Designed to soften what are otherwise very high upfront payments typically associated with electromobility solutions, the model will see Hurtigruten pay a monthly fee depending on how much they actually utilize the drivetrain, which is something the Volvo Penta team considered in great detail.

“The price of this technology is higher so we knew we needed to better understand the business model,” Inden continued. “We decided it’s not just a technology platform. It gives us a shared risk and joint responsibility. We are responsible to upgrade or make changes so we more fully determine how this can be used on commercial size. So, we’re not only testing the technology with this but also testing brand new business models.”

Although it’s still in a concept stage, news about and developments related to this model could end up changing how these solutions are approached and adopted. If the cost isn’t what’s standing in the way of someone fully exploring the opportunities that are associated with hybrid-electric vessel technology, then what is? That’s the question this model will put squarely in front of owners and operators who might not be operating in the Arctic but who will need to determine if the capability and reliability that hybrid technology has demonstrated makes sense for them this year and beyond.

Taking the long view of such challenges is easier to do in a place like Svalbard, where the stakes associated with decisions being made today can literally be experienced. Avoiding chunks of ice in electric mode makes all the difference in the world but it’s impossible to not think about the experiences that others can and will have in this same environment. Enabling those future experiences is something the Hurtigruten team is dedicated to, highlighting what it means to properly consider all the options that the technology represents.

The investment that Hurtigruten has made in hybrid technology allows the company of offer an extraordinary experience aboard a vessel uniquely suited to its environment.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Over 60 Years of Experience in Quality Shipbuilding, Vessel Repairs & Reconfigurations Yank Marine, Inc. has built and repaired thousands of boats: private yachts, commercial and fishing craft, military vessels, and a large array of USCG-certified passenger vessels.

Lifting Capacity up to 903 US Tons

(2) Full-Service Shipyards

200’ Berthing/Loading Dock

Yank Marine Services, LLC

Yank Marine, Inc.

487 Main Street, Dorchester, NJ 08316 Phone: 856-785-0100 • 50 ton Marine Travelift

Mosquito Landing Road, Tuckahoe, NJ 08250 Phone: 609-628-2928 • 75 ton Marine Travelift • 300 ton Marine Travelift

• 820 metric ton Marine Travelift!

Recently Delivered

Under Construction

Steel Vessel Construction & Repair

www.yankmarine.com • bjyank@yankmarine.com

ON THE WAYS CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS

Eastern launches another trailing suction hopper dredge for Weeks

Eastern Shipbuilding Group

E

astern Shipbuilding Group Inc. (ESG) launched the 356'×79'6"×27'3" R.B. Weeks in June, the second trailing suction hopper dredge the shipbuilder has built for Weeks Marine Inc. Designed by Royal IHC, the 8,550-cu.-yd. capacity R.B. Weeks (ESG Hull 258) is being built at ESG’s Allanton, Fla., shipyard. The vessel will undergo outfitting and trials at Eastern’s Port St. Joe, Fla., facility with delivery set for 2023.

The R.B. Weeks is nearly identical to the Magdalen, delivered by ESG in 2017. The vessel includes an electrical power, propulsion, and dredge machinery package by Royal IHC, GE Tier 4 engines, along with several accommodation and crew comfort upgrades.

“We are excited to see the launch

356' trailing suction hopper dredge for Weeks Marine.

of our newest trailing suction hopper dredge, the R.B. Weeks, which will join her sister vessel in various dredging activities primarily aiding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain

ports, harbors, and other waterways to ensure ship navigation is possible,” Eric Ellefsen, president, Weeks Marine, said.

“These two vessels have an equivalent hopper size and pumping capacity, and

BOATBUILDING BITTS

26

Libra Group

A

mericraft Marine, a subsidiary of the Libra Group, has acquired St. Johns Ship Building. The sale price was not announced. Based in Palatka, Fla., near Jacksonville, St. Johns Ship Building builds and repairs a wide variety of steel and aluminum vessels, including ferries, tugs, deck and tank barges, landing crafts, and general cargo vessels. It is also one of the few U.S. shipyards that builds vessels that support and service offshore wind farms, company officials said. Libra Group is a privately-owned international business group whose subsidiaries own and operate assets in more than 50 countries. The purchase of St. Johns comes at a time of significant need for Jones Act-compliant vessels, company officials said.

In May, MAN Engines put its first two

Americraft Marine has acquired St. Johns Ship Building.

dual fuel hydrogen-powered engines for workboats into serial operation — two 12-cylinder MAN D2862 LE448 diesels, each with an output of 749 kW (1,019 hp) at 2,100 rpm. The engines are Tier III-certified and equipped with a selective catalytic reduction exhaust gas aftertreatment system. The

low-emission engines are used on the world’s first hydrogen-powered crew transfer vessel (CTV), the 82'x24' Hydrocat 48 from Windcat Workboats.

Both V12 engines have been prepared for dual fuel operation by MAN Engines and supplemented with a hydrogen injection system by development partner CMB.TECH. Master Boat Builders Inc. (MBB) announced in June that the Hermes, a 98'6"x43'6" advanced Rotortug (ART 90-98US), was delivered to Seabulk.

The Rotortug was designed by Robert Allan Ltd. and built at MBB’s Coden, Ala., shipyard. Hermes is the sistership to Nike, which was delivered to Seabulk in 2021. Main propulsion comes from three Caterpillar 3512E diesel engines, Tier 4 certified, and each producing 2,375 hp, along with two Schottel SRP

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Master Boat Builders

we look forward to utilizing the R.B. Weeks, putting her to work deepening shipping lanes, nourishing beaches lost to erosion, and completing coastal restoration due to storm damage.”

Like the Magdalen, the R.B. Weeks is also expected to feature two booster pumps, powered at 1,600 kW each and an HD dredge pump, powered at 1,600 kW. There are two jet pumps, powered at 445 kW each.

Main propulsion comes from twin GE 16V250 diesel engines, producing 5,682 hp each, and two Wärtsilä controllable pitch propeller systems in nozzles. For added maneuverability, there is a Wärtsilä VFD fixed pitch bowthruster tunnel unit, producing 730 kW of power. Electrical power comes from two Hyundai 3,400-kW gensets, a GE 6L250, 1,423-kW auxiliary genset and a Caterpillar C18, 425-kW emergency genset.

The R.B. Weeks, which can accommodate 26 people, will be Lloyd’s classed Maltese Cross 100A1 Hopper Dredge, LMC, UMS registered and Coast Guard certified and U.S. flagged.

— Ken Hocke

Incat Crowther

ON THE WAYS

The new boat will have a service speed of 20 knots, a maximum speed of 29 knots, and a range of 400 nautical miles.

Snow building research vessel for DOE laboratory eattle-based Snow & Company is constructing a 49.7'×15.9'×7.54' hybrid catamaran aluminum research vessel for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).

The vessel is designed to demonstrate Incat Crowther and Snow’s expertise in designing and building low

emissions vessels that deliver practical solutions for their scientific mission requirements, the companies said.

The Incat Crowther 15 hybrid catamaran research vessel design features an A-frame, boom crane and movable davit in addition to access to a foldable swim platform, extracting maximum functionality from the space. A set of stairs offer direct access from the main deck to the upper deck and flybridge, which affords all-round visibility.

The new cat will be able to sup-

tieri Bay Shipbuilding to form a Jones Act-compliant articulated tug-barge (ATB). The ATB will bunker new LNGpowered cruise ships in Port Canaveral, Fla. The tug is expected to be delivered to PNE Marine in 2023.

The Mobile (Ala.) Bar Pilots (Alabama Pilot Inc.) has awarded a new contract for a second Chesapeake-class highspeed pilot boat to Gladding-Hearn

Shipbuilding, Duclos Corp. Delivery of the 53-footer is set for mid-2023.

Delivery of its first Chesapeake-class launch for the Mobile Bar Pilots, Dixey, was in 2017. The 53.6'x17.8' all-aluminum pilot boat will have a draft of 4.6'.

The Ray Hunt Design deep-V hull will be powered by twin Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines, each delivering 671 hp at 2,100 rpm. The boat will have a top speed of 25 knots. A Humphree interceptor, with automatic trim optimization, will be installed at the transom. Diesel capacity is 800 gals., which should provide a range of at least 380 miles at a speed of 20 knots, Gladding-Hearn officials said. The engines will turn 5-bladed nibral propellers via Twin Disc MGX5136A quickshift gears. The launch will be equipped with a 9-kW Northern Lights EPA Tier 3-compliant genset.

S

98'6" Rotortug was built in Alabama.

430FP Z-drive thrusters. The vessel has a bollard pull of 80 tons. In other MBB news, the shipyard said recently it would build a new 4,000-hp ATB tug for PNE Marine Holdings LLC. The new tug is the sistership to Polaris, which was delivered to Polaris New Energy LLC earlier this year. The sistership to Polaris will be coupled with a barge currently under construction at Fincan-

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

27

NOAA

Senesco Marine, North Kingstown, R.I., was awarded a contract recently by the Maine Department of Transportation to build a new passenger vessel for the Maine State Ferry Service (MSFS). The 154 passenger/vehicle ferry, designed by Gilbert Associates in collaboration with BAE Systems and using BAE’s electric hybrid propulsion solution, will deliver reduced and zero-emission operations capability for the Rockland-based ferry service. The first hybrid car ferry in Maine will initially provide service from the ferry terminal in Rockland and follows its newly launched sistership on the Rockland-Vinalhaven line, the Capt. Richard G. Spear.

Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG), Seattle, has partnered with Silverback Marine, Tacoma, Wash., to design a compact tugboat that can be transported by truck over the road. The 25’10 ⅞”x14’6” truckable tug has a draft of 3’4”. The tug can be easily transported to job sites with enough power and maneuverability to perform push assists. With 500 hp, the tug will produce a bollard pull over 12,500 lbs. and has a still water range of 60 nautical miles pushing approximately 10,000 lbs. at 4.1 knots.

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corp. announced in June that it had exercised an option to build a second 346’x69’x23’, 6,500-cu.-yd-capacity trailing suction hopper dredge at Conrad Shipyard in Amelia, La. With expected delivery in the first quarter of 2025, the new vessel will be a sistership to the Galveston Island, presently under construction with delivery in early 2023.

Oak Brook, Ill.-based GLDD’s hopper dredge fleet, including the ATB tug Douglas B. Mackie and 15,000-cu.-

NOAA research ship will support a wide variety of missions.

port the research of six scientists in a tailored layout containing multiple research workstations and convertible sleeping arrangements, providing PNNL a capable platform to efficiently carry out their research.

“Incat Crowther is excited to have the opportunity to use our proven experience in battery-hybrid propulsion to develop an optimized design to meet the 28

Senesco Marine

ON THE WAYS

154-passenger/vehicle ferry for Maine.

yd.-capacity barge Ellis Island and the Galveston, Liberty, Terrapin, Dodge and Padre Islands, comprise the largest hopper fleet in the U.S. dredging industry, GLDD said.

DEME Marine’s new state of the art vessel Orion will be deployed to U.S. waters in 2024 to install 176 monopile foundations for the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind turbine array. The foundation installation is another major contract for the Belgium-based company, already committed to southern New England wind power. Built in 2019, the 858’x160.7’x 36’ Orion, is equipped with a 5,000-ton crane to handle the coming generation of larger wind turbines and foundations.The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Thoma-Sea Marine Constructors LLC (TMC) held a keel-laying ceremony in Houma, La., in June for NOAA’s newest oceanographic research ship, the 244'6"x51.25' Oceanographer. The ship will support a wide variety of missions, ranging from general oceanographic research and exploration to marine life, climate and ocean ecosystem studies. The missions will include shallow coastal, continental shelf and worldwide ocean survey and data collection. Oceanographer, which will have a draft of 15.8’, is one of two ships being built for NOAA by Thoma-Sea. To support NOAA’s goal of reducing the agency’s carbon footprint, Oceanographer and its sistership, Discoverer, will incorporate the latest technologies, including emissions controls and high-efficiency diesel engines that have the potential to save 15,000 gals. per year for each vessel, resulting in an estimated reduction of approximately 5,700 tons of carbon dioxide.

specific objectives outlined by PNNL and is grateful to be working with the highly qualified team at Snow & Company,” said Grant Pecoraro, managing director, USA at Incat Crowther, Lafayette, La. The vessel will have a 2.8' draft and will be powered by a parallel hybridelectric propulsion system, consisting of two Volvo Penta D8-510 main

engines capable of producing 374 kW (501 hp) at 2,850 rpm each, supplemented by two Danfoss Editron EMPMI375-T200-2600 motor-generators.

The mains connect to wheels (manufacturer unspecified) through Twin Disc MGX-5075 SC gearboxes. The new boat will have a service speed of 20 knots, a maximum speed of 29 knots, and a range of 400 nautical miles.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

ON THE WAYS

ReconCraft delivers 57th riverine shallow draft vessel to U.S. Customs

R

econCraft recently delivered the 57th 21'×8'6" riverine shallow draft vessel (RSDV) it has built for the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). The aluminum boat was the last of a 12-boat order for the boatbuilder’s third-generation RSDV. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) contract provides the newest variant of ReconCraft’s RSDV to the critical fleet protecting the U.S. southern border.

With a draft of 10" (static, stationary) and -4" (on plane), the RSDVs are powered by Yanmar 8LV 350hp engines. The mains connect to HamiltonJet 241 waterjets through ZF 220 gearboxes. The RSDVs, which are USCG, ISO 12215 and ABYC certified, have a range of 150 nautical miles.

The majority of the boats are on the U.S.-Mexico border, although several operate along the U.S.-Canadian

ReconCraft

Power will be stored using a 113-kW Spear Trident battery system, allowing the vessel to operate quietly in a zeroemission electric state while engaged in a mixture of survey operational modes.

Tankage will include 600 gals. of fuel and 80 gals. fresh water. The boat will also have accommodations for a two-person crew. — K. Hocke

ReconCraft’s profits directly benefit the Native village of Eyak in Cordova, Alaska.

border.

“This CBP program is a perfect example of the success realized when industry and government collaborate to design and manufacture exceptional vessels that exactly satisfy operational, maintenance, and program requirements,” said Kurt Boardman, ReconCraft’s production manager. “We love partnering with our clients to provide tremendous value on fleet or singlevessel contracts.”

The DHS strategic sourcing initiative also includes a larger multimission variant for the Coast Guard tailored to its shallow water and riverine needs.

The boatbuilder has already delivered the 10th vessel to the Coast Guard and anticipates delivering the remaining 35 vessels within the next 12 months.

RSDVs have been in service for more than a decade. These boats are utilized around the world and facilitate missions to counter trafficking

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

of humans and drugs, hurricane and disaster response, search and rescue, and homeland security, law enforcement and defense operations.

ReconCraft further leveraged the DHS program to develop a third variant to meet the unique needs of state and local law enforcement missions.

Like its sister designs, the state and local RSDV allows law enforcement to safely patrol and respond to previously inaccessible shallow water within their areas of responsibility.

The RSDV is the result of a collaborative design approach incorporating inputs from operators, fleet managers and others.

ReconCraft’s active programs include vessels for the Navy, Coast Guard, CBP, various state and local government organizations. It is part of the Copper River Family of Companies and is a federally recognized, Alaskan tribally owned company.

29

COVER STORY

River Rising Barge markets continue to rebound.

By Pamela Glass, Washington Correspondent

A

fter suffering big losses as demand for barging plummeted in the early days of the pandemic, business over the past year has been steadily improving across all barging sectors. Operators are busy again moving cargo along inland rivers, including an unusual bump in coal exports, effects of the pandemic appear to be waning, and many companies report that demand has returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Movements of construction and steel materials are strong, reflecting spring construction season demand and an infusion of federal infrastructure money, coal and corn are on the move to export markets disrupted by the war in Ukraine, and refined petroleum and petrochemicals have rebounded as refineries have fired up production. Strong barge utilization coupled with scant new barge construction due to high steel prices have kept barge supply tight and freight rates elevated.

“We’re off to a very strong start to 2022, with the first quarter having the highest volume that moved on the inland waterways since 2013,” said Ken Ericksen, senior vice president and expert in energy, transportation and agribusiness at IHS Markit, a consulting firm. “It’s a big rebound that has taken place, and it’s been broad in scope.”

As David W. Grzebinski, president and CEO of Kirby Corp., Houston, the nation’s largest tank barge operator, put it: “As soon as Omicron started to dissipate in March, things really started hopping. Barge utilization is up to 90 percent and still going strong. Refiners and petrochemical companies are doing better, and there has been about the best pricing environment we’ve seen” for barge contracts.

But operators have been thrown a new curveball: repercussions from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are causing shortages of certain products, a disruption of the world agricultural and steel markets, supply chain and trade problems, and skyrocketing fuel and energy prices that are the main drivers of inflation.

Consumer prices were 8.6% higher in May compared with the same month a year ago, the fastest growth in 41 years, driven by pent-up consumer demand after the pandemic lockdowns were lifted and persistent supply shortages.

The situation has worsened since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February. Analysts now predict weak global economic growth coupled with rising inflation at a time when the world is struggling to recover from the pandemic.

This outlook has many barge companies worried.

The 2,600-hp Kirby Navigator pushing a tank barge tow on the Atchafalaya River near Morgan City, La.

30

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

SUPPLY CHAIN AFFECTED Although Kirby is predicting strong earnings throughout this year and next, the current economic recovery could be in jeopardy if the Ukraine war drags out and inflation leads to a recession.

“What could derail us is a recession, but that feels like a ways off, and we’re all watching the Ukraine if something happens more global, that would derail things,” Grzebinski said.

Austin Golding, CEO of Golding Barge Line, a tank barge operator in Vicksburg, Miss., that moves energy and chemical products along the inland system, said the Ukraine war may

seem far away but it does have implications for U.S. barging. When the supply chain is disrupted elsewhere in the world, a shift of buyers to U.S. products will affect the supply chain in the U.S., especially in the energy sector, he said. “We’re all part of a global supply chain, and we’re all paying for the nonsense of this war.”

Inflation and high labor costs, operators say, are in many cases negating positives such as higher freight rates and increased demand for barging.

“The cost of products is so inflated now that we wonder if people can afford the products we are carrying for much longer, how much more expensive will it become to make them, and what it’s going to do to demand,” Golding said. “All of the commodities we carry are part of the global wheel that is now thrown into flux. We’re all worried

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

about our cargoes. We’re all worried about costs of operations.

“Our [freight] rates are definitely improving, but they’re improving at the same rate that inflation is eating up whatever ground we’ve gained,” Golding continued. “We’re at a rate structure that is improving but we’re still not to the point where we need to be financially to meet the headwinds of high labor costs and the general costs to run our operation.”

A big impact has been the surge in oil prices that has forced up the price of gasoline, diesel and energy. Oil prices spiked in early June after the European Union moved to cut off Russian crude, a significant economic penalty for Russia in the wake of its Ukraine invasion.

This comes at a time when Americans began driving and flying more and more U.S. barges were returning to the waterways.

Inland operators have seen a 60-centper-gallon increase in diesel fuel prices since the beginning of March, according to River Transport News, which tracks the inland barge industry.

Diesel prices in May hit new all-time record highs, RTN said, surpassing comparable

31

Doug Stewart photo

COVER STORY

American Commercial Barge Lines

COVER STORY

ACBL’s 6,140-hp towboat Noble C. Parsonage pushes a coal tow through downtown Louisville. ACBL said that fuel accounts for approximately 30% of the company’s costs.

year-ago levels by $2.20 a gallon, depending on location.

The barge industry and expert observers never saw such a transformative and significant increase in fuel prices coming, according to Mike Ellis, CEO of American Commercial Barge Lines, Jeffersonville, Ind., one of the nation’s largest dry and liquid operators. He said fuel costs have doubled in a year and account for almost 30% of the company’s overall costs.

“With fuel costs up, new (barge) builds are down, so the supply and demand of barges has tightened,” Ellis said in a May 26 interview with CNBC. Inflationary costs have affected all aspects of ACBL’s business, espe-

cially involving imports moved on the waterways. “Our customers have had to change the supply source and source from somewhere else. They’ve had to go to Brazil and all over the world to find substitutes” (for certain products), he said. “It is not coming from Ukraine or Russia, it’s coming from all other parts of the world and parts of our country.”

High fuel costs also offer an opportunity for barge companies to tout their efficiencies as a transportation mode, said Golding of Golding Barge. He said his fuel costs have risen 25% since January and are passed on to customers through contractual obligations. As fuel costs go up, attention turns to opera-

Browns Point Marine Service Sales Service Parts & Accessories

800-338-0645

www.brownspoint.com We Ship Everywhere M/C - Visa - AMEX - Discover

Over 40 Years of Suzuki Sales & Service Experience

32

tional efficiencies of the barge fleet.

Golding said well-designed boats and engines operated by highly skilled mariners can produce efficiencies and cost savings that are important during times of high fuel prices and can be attractive to potential customers.

Rising fuel prices combined with a tight supply of empty barges, a spike in grain demand caused by the war, plus high water that reduced barge tows this spring, have also driven up barge freight rates, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Grain Transportation Report said in its March 17 newsletter.

After reaching a peak soon after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, grain freight rates from the St. Louis area have been falling, trading at levels near 300% of benchmark tariff in May, RTN said. In mid-March, by contrast, the St. Louis rates were 871% of the benchmark, 220% higher than last year, according to USDA figures. These rates partially reflect a shift in the international grain market as a result of the Ukraine war, with the U.S. picking up some new corn business.

“Black Sea traffic disruptions are expected to further increase near-term demand for U.S. barges,” the USDA’s GTR said on April 14. “The war may amplify pressures on an already tight barge supply, as global consumers turn to U.S. grain and other commodities to fill voids left by Russian and Ukraine.

The depleted supply will only intensify demand for empty barges to fill commitments in the second quarter. Plus, grain shippers continue to compete with other commodities such as coal and energy products for available barges.”

With Russia and Ukraine major suppliers of the world’s corn, wheat the sunflower oils, the closure of ports in the Black Sea has made global customers frantic to find substitute producers.

While the situation has set off alarms about global food shortages, it benefited U.S. farmers and barge lines that move grains, as there was a “seasonably uncharacteristic surge in U.S. corn exports” from the end of February, RTN said, adding that volumes began to decline in March.

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

COVER STORY

Campbell Transportation Company

MORE COAL DEMAND One of the most unexpected consequences of the war has been a bump in international demand for the already tight supply of U.S. coal. With Russia being a major supplier to the global market, and European sanctions on coal set to begin in August, customers are looking to the U.S. and other suppliers to fill the void.

“We have more demand on the Ohio River for steam coal now than I’ve ever seen and I’ve been doing this for 27 years,” said Peter Stephaich, chairman and CEO of Campbell Transportation, Houston, Pa., a major mover of coal along the inland system. “The demand is unbelievably strong, with 20-30 percent increases on year to year volumes.”

Operators who can play in the spot market can make a lot of money, Stephaich said. But the problem is getting the coal, as supplies have

Campbell Transportation is seeing big demand for steam coal, but the company is not taking part in the export boom because all its coal barges are committed to existing customers.

been diminishing due to U.S. demand falling, federal emission rules to curb fossil fuel use, lower-priced competi-

tive fuels, and scant investment in new mining and maintaining power plants.

“There’s basically not enough coal

CONTAINER ON BARGE Call for an appointment to come see it!

THE ALL-NEW COB-70

200’ x 70’ Container on Barge with Patent-Pending Container Support System

70’

INNOVATION 844-AMPBARG 844-267-2274

THE ALL-NEW 70 ’ COB-70 CO N TA200’x70’ IN E RContainer O N BA R G E on Barge

arcosamarine.com bargesales@arcosa.com 844-267-2274 • 844-AMP-BARG

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

33

Golding Barge Line

COVER STORY

The pushboat Andrew Golding and tow on the Ohio River at Paducah, Ky. The overall availability of barge equipment is tight throughout the industry.

coming out of the mines to go around to cover everyone who wants it,” he said, adding that his company is not participating in this export boom because all its coal barges are committed to existing customers. “We’ve turned down spot moves regularly. Normally we’d do that. We have a certain number of barges we use in the spot business, but we’ve decided to use that for our long-term contractual services.”

The industry shouldn’t get too excited about a spike in coal demand, however, as the U.S. supply is not likely to meet the global demand and create long-term business opportunities, according to IHS Markit’s Ericksen. “We won’t see major investments or capital investment just to take a one-shot export program where there could be a regime change in Russia,” he said. “and there are many sustainable emission targets that have been put in place” in many parts of the world that will limit coal use.

Supply disruptions and sanctions caused by the war also disrupted northbound imports of pig iron and fertilizer that originate from Russia and Ukraine, according to RTN. Pig iron is barged upstream through the Lower Mississippi River to U.S. steel plants that 34

use it as feedstock in steel production.

About 65% of all pig iron imports last year came from Russia and Ukraine, RTN reported, with the remainder from Brazil and South Africa.

The overall availability of barge equipment remains tight throughout the industry, as the high cost of building barges (now at around $1 million each compared to about $500,000 in 2019) and the high price of fuel to power them, has kept the fleet from being overbuilt with new equipment.

“We’re not in an imbalance where we have too much demand and not enough equipment. It’s pretty equalized,” said Golding.

LABOR ISSUES Another big concern for operators is the high cost of labor and the difficulty filling open positions both on vessels and shoreside. This was on everyone’s mind at the American Waterways Operators spring meeting in May, according to AWO CEO and President Jennifer Carpenter.

With labor shortages across all sectors nationally, barge companies are competing with other industries that offer good salaries, signing bonuses and no time away from home.

Barging “is an essential sector with strong implications for national security, so we need to make sure we have a pipeline of people who want to come into this industry and make a career of it,” Carpenter said. “The short term challenge (for operators) is making sure we’ve got people to run the boats now and we have the people to grow the industry into the future. Those are big issues for our members.”

There is no immediate solution and companies must take a multifaceted approach to recruiting and employee retention, Carpenter said.

Many are being creative and proactive. Campbell Transportation has hired a professional recruiter to help attract and screen potential hires, and amped up its training program to emphasize jobs that lead to long-term, well-paying careers.

Golding Barge is venturing well beyond its base in Mississippi deep into rural areas in the Southeast to reach potential recruits, emphasizing longterm salary and career opportunities.

All companies are making creative use of social media.

Labor difficulties aside, Carpenter said that while the current market rebound and high barge utilization rates are positive signs, it should be noted that the world is not yet free of the pandemic and there are many other factors affecting the industry’s performance.

“I qualify this because there are seasonal ups and downs, so getting out of pandemic-induced demand destruction does not mean that we’re going to be flying high 365 days a year.

That’s not how it works,” she said.

“Different companies are differently situated depending on their debt load and their own financial profiles, there are seasonal fluctuations in the markets, and this year’s harvest is not yet here. Inflation is a real issue that affects fuel prices, wages and component parts, steel prices remain high, and now hurricane season is upon us,” Carpenter said. “But that shouldn’t overshadow the positive news that markets have begun to recover well.”

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

S AV E T HE D AT E

NOVEMBER 30 DECEMBER 2, 2022 NEW ORLEANS Morial Convention Center, Halls B, C, D, E & F

REGISTRATION OPENING SOON AT

Produced by

Presented by

BRIAN GAUVIN PHOTO

workboatshow.com

BOATS & GEAR Vessel Design

Space Craft Operators focus on crew needs, carrying capacity.

By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

M

ost workboat operators share a common concern — occasionally finding themselves shorthanded. Then there are barge operators who would love to build a vessel with better fuel economy. This issue’s design feature focuses on how two companies are addressing those issues.

Breaking out of old patterns and habits can be tricky. You don’t want to alienate the very people you’re trying to help.

How far do you go in the new direction? Is it done incrementally or with a deep dive?

Crowley Maritime Corp., Jacksonville, Fla., appears to be taking the deep dive route as it seeks to strengthen crew retention. “We’re trying to attract talent and encourage people to come and work on Crowley engineered designs,” said Cole Van Gundy, Crowley Maritime’s vice president of engineering, while at the same time noting that “mariners of today are a lot different than mariners of yesterday.”

Crowley recently needed to lease some new vessels and found “there wasn’t much new in the way of crew comfort and keeping up with what modern culture offers right now and how people expect to live their lives,” said Bryan Nichols, senior director of business development and commercial operations with Crowley Engineering Services (previously Jensen Maritime).

Staying with the tried-and-true of the past is not what Crowley envisions as the best way to retain crews for the long term. That’s why a primary focus is modernized workboat designs with an emphasis on crew comfort, “how the crew interacts with one another, with the vessel itself,” said Nichols.

Understanding the comfort issue has been approached in several different ways, including conducting interviews with

36

multiple workboat crews and sending Crowley engineers out on workboats for a couple of days at a time to understand the daily experiences crews go through. Also, Crowley has engaged noise consultants and brought in interior designers “to give us a complete fresh look inside the vessel to anyone stepping aboard,” said Nichols. Crowley has also gone to industries outside the marine world such as aerospace “to see how they have overcome the small space” issue.

The work, which will first be on display with the launching of the eWolf, the all-electric harbor tug being built at Master Boat Builders in Coden, Ala., is aimed at giving “people their own personal space that can be uniquely updated for each person on the vessel,” said Nichols. Whereas a generation ago once the crew was on a boat they didn’t have much connection with friends and family, part of the comfort space Nichols refers to today includes charging ports and being able “to connect to the outside world via Wi-Fi and stay connected with everybody back home.”

Attention has also been paid to the pilothouse and deck.

Engineers and naval architects, Nichols said, weren’t the sole developers of the new pilothouse design. Captains were enlisted in a 3-D interactive design to develop an integrated bridge system with optimal lines of sight that allows the operator to “focus on what he needs to do to operate the vessel.”

Down at the bow, the staple, based on input from tug operators, was pushed into the bulwarks to prevent someone from getting caught between the staple and the line going to a ship.

Also, a step that’s traditionally been in the deck was eliminated. However, the most innovative feature is a rescue ladder built into the port and starboard sides of the tug, about amidwww.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

Hockema Group

420’ Hockema Group-designed Frederick Paul will be the largest hopper dredge built in the U.S. when it’s launched in 2023.

HOPPER DREDGES AND BARGES A distinctive feature on a hopper dredge designed by the Hockema Group Inc., Seattle, is the positioning of the well deck. On most hopper dredges, it’s built low along a vessel’s side, just above the load line and freeboard assignments. This allows for a relatively short drag arm to rotate down for pumping dredging material.

Crowley Maritime

ships. Now, if someone goes overboard they can be brought aboard without first finding a line or ladder to bring then aboard. “I believe it’s the very first time on a tug,” Cole said.

The eWolf will be operational by mid2023. By then the next generation eWolf should be under construction. Instead of the current eWolf’s 70-ton bollard pull, the next generation will be 90 tons and capable of doing escort service.

The Crowley Maritime designed eWolf features a bow staple worked into the bulwarks and a rescue ladder built into the side of the hull.

That’s not the case on a hopper dredge design from the Hockema Group, where the well deck is “essentially up to the top of the hopper,” said John Myers, president of the fullservice naval architecture company. A couple of advantages come with this location. The hopper dredge’s hull can be submerged much deeper, thereby increasing the carrying capacity of

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

dredged material, and the hull with a higher sided well deck has greater longitudinal strength. Of course, the drag arm is another deck higher, which means it is longer than if the well deck was lower down on the hull.

The impetus for the design came from working with Manson Construction Co. in Seattle, which wanted a higher capacity hopper dredge with-

37

Hockema Group

BOATS & GEAR Vessel Design

Hockema Group-designed 438' barge Namakani being towed out of Honolulu Harbor.

out making it longer or wider. “They wanted to be able to carry certain tonnage within a certain size vessel,” said Myers. The raised well deck is “a prominent feature when compared to other hopper dredges being built around the world.”

That lead to the largest hopper dredge in this country, the Glenn Edwards, a 390'×76' hopper dredge built at Alabama Dry Dock and Shipbuilding and delivered to Manson in 2006. It has a 12,000-cu.-yd. capacity. A competitor’s hopper dredge was then built that bumped the Glenn Edwards down to second largest in the U.S. But a new Hockema Group hopper dredge “will once again take the reins of being the largest in the U.S.,” said Myers, when in early 2023, the 420'×81' Frederick

Paup is launched at Keppel AmFELs in Brownsville, Texas, for Manson. It will have a 15,000-cu.-yd. capacity.

The maintenance dredge Frederick Paup will operate primarily in the Gulf of Mexico. Like the Glenn Edwards, it will have a pump-off module, enabling it to be a few miles off a beach dredging sand and then, through piping, pump the sand back onto the beach.

Barging is a commercial marine sector not generally thought of when it comes to design innovations. But that’s not stopped the Hockema Group, which has done extensive computational fluid dynamics work on barges to optimize hull designs, which leads to giving a lot of shape to the bow and stern entries. A lot more “than you find on traditional barges,” said Myers. “We boldly state

that our barges are the most hull efficient of any.”

Two Hockema Group sister towing barges are the Namakani and the Kamakani, both 438'×105'×25' and built

by Gunderson Marine, Portland, Ore., for Sause Brothers, Coos Bay, Ore. The Namakani was built in 2016 and the Kamakani in 2008.

Both barges have “a lot of hull curvature, particularly in the buttocks of the hull shape in the bow and stern,” said Myers. They also have Hydro-Lift skegs that reduce a barge’s resistance as it moves through the water by 8% to 10% and provide directional stability while producing “a vector of force that adds a forward thrust vector to the barge when being towed.” That’s important when a barge is being towed from, say, the West Coast to Hawaii or to Alaska.

Then there is the fuel savings. Myers said towing the Hockema Groupdesigned barge, as opposed to a boxy traditional barge, gives the towboat operator 15% to 20% fuel savings.

Myers cringes when he sees more traditional box-shaped barges being built. They are cheaper to build than the Hockema designs, “but if they’d just spend another 10% to 15% on construction to create a barge with the proper shape, they will make that money back in the first year of towing.”

Dates just in BRI DWYER PHOTO

Nov 17-19, 2022

38

Seattle, WA

CONNECTED

Lumen Field Event Center Presented by: Produced by:

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

PORT OF CALL

EMPLOYMENT HIRING ALL POSITIONS ABOARD OUR FLEET!

SHORE OFFSHORE SERVICES Has Immediate Openings!                    

Derrick Barge Deck Foreman Leadermen Rigger Derrick Crane Operator Deck Crane Operator Tower Operator Welding Foreman Welder (6 GR Certified) Clerk Chief Engineer Chief Electrician Mechanic Oiler Electrician Steward Night Cook Galley Hand Tug Boat Captain Able Body Seamen QMED/OILER

VANUATU FLAGGED TUG CREWS:  Able seafarer deck–II/4 or II/5  Chief engineer—III/3  Able seafarer engine—III/4 or III/5

100 Ton Captains & Deckhands For Utility & Crew Boats

USCG 100 Ton License HS Diploma or GED

Captains & Mates Lic. Engineers & QMED AB & OS

T.W.I.C. FCC Marine Radio Operator Permit (MROP) Radar Observer Full Time with full Benefits Package Drug test required

All applicants must possess valid MMC, Medical Certificate and TWIC credential Apply online:

Please email resume to:

www.dannmarinetowing.com/employment

jo.johnston@arrowmarinegroup.com

HIRING

PLACE YOUR EMPLOYMENT AD HERE!

DECK & ENGINE

Contact: Wendy Jalbert wjalbert@divcom.com

All deck officers must hold valid Vanuatu GMDSS– General Operator’s Certificate (GOC) (IV/2)

WE ARE HIRING!!

Minimum 2 years offshore experience onboard a derrick barge required.

Applicants must have a valid TWIC card.

•

Email resume to:

•

jobs@shoreoffshore.com

Marine transportation company in Washington State is looking for experienced launch boat/water taxi operators to service deep water vessels at anchor and underway.

Skilled & Qualified Personnel

• • • • • •

• •

Assistant Project Managers Estimators Mechanical Supervisors Crane & Rigging Supervisor Tank Department Supervisor Yard Superintendents Fork Truck Operators Mechanics Electricians Laborers

Chief Engineers Masters & Mates Seeking (2 ea) for shallow draft hopper dredge “MISS KATIE” assigned to Wanchese NC. All work in coastal NC. Competitive pay with benefits.

• • • • • •

Chief Engineer 2000 HP Masters Mate 1600 NC DDE Oiler

EJE DREDGING SERVICE

For More information

CALL 252-619-3606

Dann Ocean Towing

NOW HIRING! As our fleet continues to grow, we are looking for experienced wire boat:

www.bayonnedrydock.com We Offer Competitive Salaries & Benefits Equal Opportunity Employer

Please forward all inquires/resumes to:

HR@Bayonnedrydock.com

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

- Captain - Mates

- Engineers - AB Deckhands

We Offer:  A company committed to safety  Competitive Day Rates  Equal Time Opportunities  Paid Travel

Apply online: www.dannoceantowing.com Email: hiring@dannoceantowing.com Phone: (813) 251-5100

39

PORT OF CALL Employment, Equipment & Services

EMPLOYMENT SE EK IN G QUA LI FIE D & E X PE RI ENC ED PER SO NNE L

Is now accepting applications for

to work on our subsea construction fleet.

Chief Engineers & Licensed Engineers

AVAILABLE POSITIONS

              

Master Senior Chief Officer Chief Officer Second Officer Chief Engineer Second Engineer Third Engineer Fourth Engineer Electro-Technical Officer Electrician Instrument Technician Bosun Able Seafarer Able Seafarer (Engine) Welder

              

Crane Operator Crane Technician Materials Coordinator Chief Pipelay Engineer Fitter Technician Supervisor Hydraulic Technician PLC Technician Electrical Technician Mechanical Technician Pipelay Operator Deck Mechanic Deck Coordinator Offshore Const Manager SR Offshore Const Supervisor

              

Offshore Const Supervisor Offshore Operations Engineer Deck Supervisor Rigging Supervisor Assistant Rigging Supervisor Rigger (incl Lead rigger) Rigger Welder ROV Superintendent ROV Senior Supervisor ROV Supervisor ROV Senior Pilot Technician ROV Pilot Technician HSE Advisor Medic Administrator Offshore Administrator

Send resumes to:

Harvey Gulf International Marine Apply Online at:

www.harveygulf.com

Or apply in person at our Fourchon Facility 495 Adam Ted Gisclair Road, Fourchon, LA 70357

Great Benefits, Travel Pay, Matching 401K and more...

Please submit resume to

Jobs@harveygulf.com

offshorevesseljobs@technipfmc.com

EOE

Seeking fleet deckhands 3 locations

Waggaman, LA - Vacharie, LA - Destrehan, LA ADM is seeking a full time laborer to work as a deckhand under the direction of a Captain on a tug boat at our American River Transportation Company (ARTCo) fleeting locations Complete benefits package, including 401K/ESOP Pension, Health, Life, Vision and Dental Insurance

Please visit our website to apply:

www.adm.com/careers

For job description go to:

https://www.workboat.com/resources/jobs-marketplace/seeking-fleet-deckhands

We are Hiring!

MSHS IS HIRING EXPERIENCED:

ACCOUNT MANAGER I

Is now accepting applications for

Chief Engineers

• Application Engineers • Field Service Engineers • Workshop Technicians ...Controls & Actuations • Workshop Technicians ...Engine & Turbochargers

Florida

• Project Coordinators

Louisiana Washington

• Workshop Machinists • Welder

Visit our website at

https://www.mshsgroup.com/careers/ to view available positions.

40

ZF is seeking Account Manager I Sales Department - Marine Division Mukilteo, WA

Harvey Gulf International Marine Apply Online at:

www.harveygulf.com

Or apply in person at our Fourchon Facility

BE PART OF THE ZF TEAM

495 Adam Ted Gisclair Road, Fourchon, LA 70357

www.ZF.com

For full job description and to apply go to: https://www.workboat.com/resources/jobsmarketplace/account-manager-i

Great Benefits, Travel Pay, Matching 401K and more...

Please submit resume to

Jobs@harveygulf.com EOE

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

PORT OF CALL

EMPLOYMENT

WE ARE HIRING!

WE'RE HIRING! All Ocean Towing Positions

• Captain • Chief Mate • 2nd Mate • Engineer

DIESEL TECHNICIANS

• QMED • A/B • OS • Cooks

Northern Lights is the West Coast Distributor for MAN and Nanni engines. We are looking for all skill level field service technicians to work on the maintenance and repair of marine diesel engine equipment.

SAN FRANCISCO Chief Engineer Able Bodied Seaman Captain QMED

Full job description and to apply go to:

www.cityexperiences.com/careers

Send resume to Saba Williams at:

swilliams@northern-lights.com Apply Online at:

www.careers.foss.com/

For more info visit the "Careers" page at

www.northern-lights.com

Or email resume at:

travis.rottini@cityexperiences.com

KEY ACCOUNT MANAGER

NAVAL ESTIMATOR

WE ARE HIRING!

Seeking someone with shipyard experience to estimate bids for government contract vessels and new construction vessels. Naval Engineering or Naval Architect experience a plus.

ZF is seeking Key Account Manager Applications Department Miramar, FL

BE PART OF THE ZF TEAM

www.ZF.com

Email your resume to:

jyank@yankmarine.com

For full job description and to apply go to: https://www.workboat.com/resources/jobsmarketplace/key-account-manager

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

• Chief Engineer of Unlimited Horsepower ....on Hopper Dredge (Nationwide) • Shipyard Project Manager (LA) • 1st Engineer (TX) • Deckhands (TX) • Maintenance Superintendent • Electrical Technician • Watch Engineer (Unlicensed) (TX + MO) • Laborer (Yard) (VA + MO) • Yard Crane Operator (MO) • Leverman/Deck Captain (TX) • Master of Towing Vessels (TX) • Oiler- Gulf Coast (TX) Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC is an equal opportunity employer

Visit our website to apply

https://www.gldd.com/careers/

41

PORT OF CALL Employment, Equipment & Services

EMPLOYMENT / LAW / MARINE GEAR **Immediate Hire**

1st Class Aluminum & Steel Shipfitters

Marine Fire Suppression inspectors

SIMULATOR INSTRUCTOR The Seamen’s Church Institute’s Center for Maritime Education-Paducah is seeking an experienced captain to teach courses related to towboat captains, pilots, mate/steersman, and Subchapter M companies

Senesco Marine is looking for first class shipfitters to perform tasks to lay out, fabricate and assemble various metal structural parts of a ship such as plates and bulkheads.

40 hrs per week, OT is paid as double time Located in Seattle Company has been in business for 99 years Will train as needed

Quonset Point North Kingstown, RI

For full job description & to apply go to:

For full job description and to apply go to:

www.senescomarine.com/careers.htm

www.gowfire.com

5 yrs + experience operating vessels on the Western Rivers or Inland Waters Strong communication skills Experience training steersmen or leading meetings Current USCG license Matching 403b Retirement Plan Dental /Medical Full Time- Mon-Fri Send resume to:

HR@seamenschurch.org

www.workboat.com/resources/jobs-marketplace You'll also find Marine Gear, Equipment, Services, and more in our Marketplace.

To get more info on running an advertisement contact wjalbert@divcom.com

LAW

MARINE GEAR

42

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

PORT OF CALL

MARINE GEAR / SUPPLIES / SERVICES Heated Work Boat Cabin Glazing Electrically Heated Interlayers For estimates please call: 724-256-9151

www.hotlineglassusa.com

MB Brokerage Co. HOSS Winch Division

NEW & REFURBISHED WINCHES Call or email for a quote or custom winch requirement!

cgonsoul@gmail.com

850-255-5266 www.HossWinch.com

BOLLARD™ MARINE GENERATORS Designed & Built for the Harsh Marine Environment

9kW - 550kW Gensets LOWEST COST OF OWNERSHIP MORE COPPER = LOWER OPERATING TEMPS & LESS FUEL CONSUMPTION

ment

R Equip

d by ME

cture Manufa

CUSTOM SPECS AVAILABLE

800.777.0714

Locate a dealer www.merequipment.com

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

43

PORT OF CALL Employment, Equipment & Services

MARINE GEAR / SUPPLIES / SERVICES

MARINE MACHINING & MANUFACTURING Your One-Stop Shop for Your Marine Drive Needs Sales and Service

Sales and Service

• A17, A19, A22 and A22HS • Propeller Shafting Bar Stock lengths up to 36’ • C.N.C. Machined Propeller Shafting • Precision Propeller Shaft straightening & repair

• Custom Machined Shaft Couplings up to 30” diameter • Michigan Wheel Propellers • Propeller Repair

W O R L D L E A D E R I N B O AT S H A F T I N G World's Largest Stocking Distributor of AQUAMET PH. 586-791-8800

33475 Giftos Dr., Clinton Township, MI 48035 ◼

www.marinemachining.com - www.aquamet.com The Alutech and OP Series Chairs & Deck Rails

Greater Quality. Greatest Value.

Alu Design offers a standard product line in addition to the option for customization to suit specific needs.

Sleek modern design and maximum utility and comfort are emphasized.

No matter whether you call it a pilot chair, helm chair, navigator chair or operator seat, we have the chair for your application.

www.alu-design.no

In-Mar Solutions offers a complete line of Alu Design & Services chairs and deck rails.

THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL

for removing coatings and rust

www.inmarsolutions.com 

info@inmarsolutions.com

(225) 644-7063

Rustibus® is designed to de-scale and power brush ship decks, hatch covers, tank tops, etc. free from paint and rust!

USA OFFICE Ph: 832-203-7170 houston@rustibus.com

44

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

PORT OF CALL

MARINE GEAR / SUPPLIES / SERVICES NEW KIENE COOL RUNNING INDICATOR VALVE! •

Unique design keeps temperature well below SOLAS and Subchapter M limits.

•

Safe, easy to use.

•

Long life due to reduced temperatures.

•

Near-straight through flow path provides accurate cylinder pressure

Keel Coolers Trouble free marine engine cooling since 1927!

THE WALTER MACHINE CO, INC Tel: 201-656-5654 • Fax: 201-656-0318 www.waltergear.com

readings.

DESIGN, MANUFACTURING, MODIFICATIONS Hand wheel operated COOL RUNNING Indicator Valve

Huard Technology Services

•

Available now for EMD engines!

•

Available with pressure sensor port - for continuous pressure monitoring.

•

Hex nut and hand wheel operated versions are available.

Jacques Emile Huard

Electronic Design Engineer jacques@huardtechserv.com

NMEA 2000 & SAE J1939 ISOLATED CANBUS INTERFACES CLOSED-LOOP HYDRAULIC CONTROL NMEA 0183 & GPS & IMU BLUETOOTH & WIFI & MESH

http://huardtechserv.com

SENSOR & ELECTRICAL DESIGN

Call or e-mail for info!

1-800-264-5950 info@kienediesel.com www.kienediesel.com

Now Manufacturing and Installing Fire Retardant Bunk Curtains

Place your Marine Gear / Supplies or Services AD HERE! wjalbert@divcom.com

We are a Custom Manufacturer of Wheelhouse Tinted Shades & Crew Quarter Blackout Shades

We custom build every shade to fit each window in our facility.

They are Incredibly durable, driven by over-sized clutches and operated by a stainless steel pull chain.

We offer measurement and installation services in Southern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. We carry $5,000,000 workers’ compensation, and liability insurance policies with U.S.L.&H. and the Jones Act.

Download our order form to purchase your shades today.

Contact: Edward Kass III | 504-615-5833 | ekass@solarboatshades.com | www.solarboatshades.com

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

45

PORT OF CALL Employment, Equipment & Services

MARINE GEAR / SUPPLIES / SERVICES

36-inch Diameter Modular Plastic Pontoons The Best Idea Since the Indian Canoe

Uses: Pontoon boats, house boats,

workboats—replace old steel or aluminum pontoons Heavy Duty: Molded from sturdy, medium density polyethylene (MDPF) and filled with polyurethane foam for increased stability Modular: Each bow, middle and stern modules are 10 ft. in length

Coast Guard & State Pilotage License Insurance Available Coverages; Legal Defense for CG, NTSB and State Pilot Hearings; Federal and State Civil Actions Reimbursement for Loss of Wages Group Coverage Also Available

Displacement at full submersion:

Bow module supports gross weight of 3,100 lbs. and middle/stern each supports 4,200 lbs.

R.J. Mellusi & Co., 29 Broadway, Suite 2311 New York, N.Y. 10006 Tel. 1(800)280-1590, Fax. 1(212)385-0920, rjmellusi@sealawyers.com www.marinelicenseinsurance.com

VIEW MORE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES AT www.WorkBoat.com

5602 Sea Grapes Way The Village, FL 32163 Phone: 419-675-0002 info@wilsonpontoons.com

Toll Free: 877-456-2531

www.plasticpontoon.com Become a Certified and Accredited Marine Surveyor

Fishing Vessel Qualified. Complete course and examination for all vessel types and uses.

1-800-245-4425 or navsurvey.com 46

MB Brokerage Co. | MB Barge Co. | BG Fleeting

Barges | Boats | Cranes Vessel Chartering Services Chris Gonsoulin, Owner (850) 255-5266

cgonsoul@gmail.com

www.mbbrokerage.net www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

PORT OF CALL

ADVERTISERS INDEX Ahead Sanitation Systems Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Louisiana Cat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Airmar Technology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

McDermott Light & Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Arcosa Marine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

MTU - A Rolls-Royce solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV2

BAE Systems Ship Repair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Pacific Marine Expo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

BMT Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Robert Allan Ltd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Browns Point Marine Service, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Rouses Markets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

CAIG Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

R W Fernstrum & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Furuno USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV3

Schoellhorn-Albrecht Machine Company. . . . . . . . . 29

Gilbert Associates Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Transport Products and Service Enterprises, Inc.. . 37

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Trimaco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

U.S. Coast Guard Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Imtra Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

WorkBoat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

International WorkBoat Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4,35

Yank Marine Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

John Deere Power Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Yanmar America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Karl Senner, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV4

www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

47

LOOKS BACK AUGUST 1962

• C.G. Willis Jr., Paulsboro, N.J., has ordered four twin-screw towboats from Wiley Manufacturing. The boats will measure 90'×28' and are scheduled to be delivered later this year.

• The Island Exporter, described as the “world's largest oceangoing deck cargo barge,” was delivered recently to Island Tug & Barge Ltd., Victoria, British Columbia, by Yarrows Ltd.,

Esquimalt, British Columbia. The 360'×75'×25' Esporter is designed to carry 10,700 gross tons of bulk cargo.

Fully loaded, it will draw 18'4". Vancouver naval architect Robert Allan designed the barge for use in the 20' channel of the Willamette River.

• The 55'×16'×4'6" excursion boat Lady M was recently placed in service

by River Excursions, Dubuque, Iowa.

The new Mississippi River boat has seating for 150 passengers but has passed stability tests for up to 200.

AUGUST 1972

• The 90'×30' towboat National Ranger was built at Main Iron Works, Houma, La., for the Transport Division of National Marine Service, Brentwood, Mo. The new boat is designed primarily to work from Chicago to Houston but with a maximum draft of 8' when fully loaded, the boat is shallow enough to work the Missouri River or anywhere else.

• The Wharf Cat, a 75'×31' party boat, was recently delivered by Breaux’s Bay Craft, Loreauville,

La., to Wharf Cat Inc., Port Aransas, Texas. The all aluminum, twin hull catamaran is certified to carry up to 86 passengers.

• Plans for a new Hall of American Maritime Enterprise at the Smithsonian Institution has been announced

by Dr. Daniel J. Boorstin, director of History and Technology in Washington, D.C. The museum hopes to open the new hall in 1976 — in time for the nation’s bicentennial.

AUGUST 1982 • Christening ceremonies were held recently for the 285'×78' cargo/oil combination barge Thunderbird, built by Eagle Marine Construction, Seattle, for Pacific Western Lines.

• Alter Barge Line, Davenport, Iowa, has recently been issued an ICC Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity, granting authority to engage in transportation as a common carrier by water. The certificate enables Alter 48

to transport general cargo commodities between points and ports in the Mississippi, Illinois, Ohio, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas and Cumberland rivers, and the Intracoastal Canal.

• Riedel International has been selected as the general contractor with Dravo Corp. in charge of engineering and construction management for Pacific Coal Corp.’s $60 million coal export terminal at the Port of Portland. www.workboat.com • AUGUST 2022 • WorkBoat

When you're serious

Serious Radar.

Simply Reliable.

Being aware of your surroundings is paramount.

Your primary line of defense is a Radar you can count on, from a company you can depend on.

FAR15x8 Series Black Box Radar

FR19x8VBB Series Black Box River Radar

FAR22x8BB Series Black Box Radar

Tranquil conditions can quickly change. Evade the ravages of Mother Nature with the world's most relied upon Radar.

Unmatched detection at every range

Available in Conventional or Solid-State Models

Unique features including ACE (Automatic Clutter Elimination)

Identify hazards quickly with Target Analyzer™ and Fast Target Tracking

Ultra High Definition Radar

Learn more at www.furunousa.com

X-Band or S-Band Configurations Available

“With more than 65 sets of Reintjes gears in service today, our business has continued to operate safely and efficiently with reliableSenner’s and dependableproducts service from Karl Senner, LLC. With Reintjes and Karl Senner, LLC. our partners,the we are “Karl and services are unmatched inasmeeting confident that we will have many more years of operating success along America’s Inland waterways.”

- Clark Todd, President, Blessey Marine rigorous demands of our vessels and operation.

Reliability is Services key.”Inc.

-Jim Barker, President | Seastreak, LLC

Karl Senner, LLC is proud to supply the M/V Courageous with four REINTJES WVS 730 Reverse Reduction Gearboxes that allow for back-flushing the waterjets.

These gearboxes utilize lightweight Karl Senner, LLCdiagonal is proudoffsets, to supply aluminum housings, and two REINTJES WAF Gearboxes robust gearing, ideal for563 a high-speed passenger withDaniel high operating onboardvessel the M/V Wisner. hours.

Generic Product Image

504-469-4000

Owner/Operator: Seastreak Shipyard: Midship Marine Owner: Blessey Marine Services, Inc. Naval Architect: Incat Crowther Shipyard: Verret Shipyard

|

KARLSENNER.COM