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ON THE COVER

JANUARY 2016 • VOLUME 73, NO. 1

A ReconCraft 34' patrol boat at the WorkBoat Show. Photo by Diversified Communications / Ed Lev

FEATURES 20 Focus: River Stars New documentary film captu es life on the river for the crew of a Mississippi River towboat.

25 In Business: Expansion Team Louisiana’s MetalShark looks to build bigger boats.

34 Cover Story: Show Stoppers News from the 36th International WorkBoat Show held in New Orleans in December.

BOATS & GEAR 28 On the Ways

Vane Brothers takes delivery of 11th Sassafras-class, 3,000-hp tug from Chesapeake Shipbuilding. MetalCraft finishes 66' fireboat for Fire Department City of New York. Bordelon Marine takes delivery of 257' ultra-light intervention vessel. Eastern Shipbuilding launches first of four Z-Tech tugs for Bay Houston Towing and a multipurpose field support vessel for Harvey Gulf International Marine. VT Halter Marine launches second of two ATBs for Bouchard Transportation. Brunswick and Scully’s draw visitors to their boats at the WorkBoat Show.

40 No Harm, No Foul Coatings manufacturers offer up new products in the ongoing battle against corrosion.

AT A GLANCE 10 10 11 12 14 14 15

On the Water: Voyage planning — Part IV. Captain’s Table: Another great WorkBoat Show. OSV Day Rates: Workforce concerns surface amid downturn. WB Stock Index: Stocks post another positive month. Inland Insider: Uber for barge freight? Insurance Watch: Who owns what at claims time? Legal Talk: El Faro and limitation of liability.

NEWS LOG 16 16 16 17 17 18 18

WorkBoat Strategic Leadership Program grads recognized at show. Bollinger settles lawsuit involving lengthened 110' Coast Guard cutters. Trailer Bridge, Crowley agree to dismiss patent suit. Signal exits bankruptcy, changes name. New Mississippi River barge fleeting operation to begin on Jan. 1 Barge industry still in need of infrastructure help. U.S. needs strong Merchant Marine for security.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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40 DEPARTMENTS 4 Editor’s Watch 8 Mail Bag 42 Port of Call 51 Advertisers Index 52 WB Looks Back

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Editor'sWatch

Showing its mettle

ith a severe slump in one of the major sectors of our industry, I didn’t think that this year’s International WorkBoat Show would be the best ever. It wasn’t. But it was far from the worst, and topped most people’s expectations. Some exhibitors, among them a Gulf shipyard, told me that it was a great show for their company, perhaps the best ever. Reports like that were good news for me and the scores of people in our company that work all year to ensure that the annual WorkBoat Show is a success. Once again the show featured the lastest products and services from exhibitors, and interesting keynote and featured speakers and conferences. Former NFL great Joe Theismann delivered an upbeat address to open the show on Dec. 1, telling the overflow crowd to be the best at what they do, whether on the football field or in the workboat industry. He reminded attendees to be open to changes that are occuring in the marine business, as they can lead to new opportunities. “That’s why this show is so important to every one of you. See as many things as you can. How can this work to make us more efficient, to make us more dependable?” Before his afternoon keynote address, Theismann greeted graduates of the WorkBoat Strategic Leadership Development Program at their graduation luncheon. He handed out certicates to all of the graduates in attendance, capping the second year of the joint program with Louisiana State University’s Executive Leadership Program. Theismann told the class of maritime professionals that “leadership the way

David Krapf, Editor in Chief

I define it is purely influence.” In two years, the WorkBoat/LSU program has graduated 32 midcareer students. A third class is forming for 2016. The other featured speaker at the show was energy industry analyst Dr. Kent Moors. He said it’s a mistake to look at the market as a surplus meeting demand collapse, when it’s really a window into a future where other emerging suppliers will continue to challenge the old order dominated by petro-states. His talk, like several others at the show, was well attended and well received. See you at the 37th WorkBoat Show in December 2016.

dkrapf@divcom.com

WORKBOAT® (ISSN 0043-8014) is published monthly by Diversified Business Communications and Diversified Publications, 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112-7438. Editorial Office: P.O. Box 1348, Mandeville, LA 70470. Annual Subscription Rates: U.S. $39; Canada $55; International $103. When available, extra copies of current issue are $4, all other issues and special issues are $5. For subscription customer service call (978) 671-0444. The publisher reserves the right to sell subscriptions to those who have purchasing power in the industry this publication serves. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, ME, and additional mailing offices. Circulation Office: 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112-7438. From time to time, we make your name and address available to other companies whose products and services may interest you. If you prefer not to receive such mailings, please send a copy of your mailing label to: WorkBoat’s Mailing Preference Service, P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to WORKBOAT, P.O. Box 1792, Lowell, MA 01853. Copyright 20 16 by Diversified Business Communications. Printed in U.S.A.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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WorkBoatMaintenanceAndRepair.com Presented by the organizers of the award winning International WorkBoat Show and WorkBoat magazine Produced by DIVERSIFIED COMMUNICATIONS

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Jerry Fraser jfraser@divcom.com

EDITOR IN CHIEF

David Krapf dkrapf@divcom.com

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Ken Hocke khocke@divcom.com

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Kirk Moore kmoore@divcom.com

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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Capt. Alan Bernstein • Bruce Buls • Michael Crowley • Dale K. DuPont • Pamela Glass • Max Hardberger • Kevin Horn • Joel Milton • Bill Pike • Kathy Bergren Smith

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EASTERN U.S. AND CANADA EUROPE Kristin Luke (207) 842-5635 • Fax: (207) 842-5611 kluke@divcom.com WESTERN U.S. AND CANADA PACIFIC RIM Susan Chesney (206) 463-4819 • Fax: (206) 463-3342 schesney@divcom.com GULF / SOUTHERN U.S. SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA Jeff Powell (207) 842-5573 • Fax: (207) 842-5611 jpowell@divcom.com ATLANTIC / CENTRAL STATES Adam Shaw (207) 842-5496 • Fax: (207) 842-5611 ashaw@divcom.com EXPOSITIONS (207) 842-5508 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 Producers of The International WorkBoat Show, WorkBoat Maintenance & Repair Conference and Expo, and Pacific Marine Expo www.workboatshow.com EXPOSITION SALES DIRECTOR Chris Dimmerling (207) 842-5666 • Fax: (207) 842-5509 cdimmerling@divcom.com

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Ballast management tips

y blog series on Maritime Commons provides information and updates on ballast water management. My staff recently participated in the Fourth Annual Ballast Water Management Technology North America Conference where they had comprehensive discussions with manufacturers, vessel owners and operators, independent labs and other stakeholders about all aspects of U.S. regulations and implementation of the ballast water program. During this conference, we noted several areas of concern and confusion that prompted me to publish this series on Maritime Commons. Over this six-part series I provide basic details about U.S. ballast water regulations published in 2012, compare U.S. regulations and the International Maritime Organization ballast water convention, summarize the Coast Guard type-approval process, discuss type-ap-

proval challenges, provide an overview of ballast water treatment systems technologies, and other relevant topics. First, I would like to highlight a few realities associated with addressing this complex issue. Innovative methods and technologies to effectively reduce the risks of harmful aquatic invasive species have advanced dramatically in the past decade. Despite these advances, many significant challenges remain unresolved. Multiple treatment systems must be developed to fit the variety of worldwide ships operating within diverse environments. Each environment contains diverse organisms that are transient by nature and react differently to various treatment methods at any given time. While these challenges remain, we are leveraging outside technical expertise to build a comprehensive and practical environmental testing and verification program. We are engaging with environmental stakeholders, non-governmental organi-

zations, and U.S. industry and international communities to ensure that all ballast water treatment initiatives align with Coast Guard requirements as much as practicable, and we continue to communicate with maritime stakeholders to identify and address compliance hurdles. With the help of other federal agencies, ballast water manufacturers, ship owners, class societies and various industry stakeholders, the Coast Guard has undertaken substantial work to implement the 2012 ballast regulations. Rear Adm. Paul Thomas Assistant Commandant for Prevention Policy U.S. Coast Guard Washington, D.C.

Editor’s note: The blog and sixpart ballast series are available at http://mariners.coastguard.dodlive. mil/2015/12/02/1222015-ballast-waterseries-from-the-coast-guards-assistantcommandant-for-prevention-policy/.

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12/15/15 2:04 PM

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On the Water

Voyage planning — Part IV

By Joel Milton

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

o what was the big mistake that did in the TOTE containership El Faro and her crew? Mario Vittone’s Oct. 8 gCaptain essay, “We Won’t Learn Anything: What Sank El Faro and What Didn’t,” offered a concise analysis. First and foremost, a “failure to fairly estimate the encountered peril” led them towards, rather than away from, a known danger. There were reasonable and good alternatives available from the outset to avoid Hurricane Joaquin, but the riskiest course of action was chosen instead. It wasn’t a coincidence that the route they took was also the most direct and usual route to San Juan, Puerto Rico. No matter what else may have subsequently happened, it all started there and then got progressively worse. According to El Faro’s owners, there was a “sound plan” for avoiding or otherwise dealing with Joaquin. That plan, however, apparently

Captain’s Table

It was another energetic International WorkBoat Show

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.

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he International WorkBoat Show is high on my annual list of “must attend” events. There is always a great deal of energy and excitement when the maritime industry gathers each year in New Orleans. Whatever workboat industry segment you hail from, there is plenty to keep you busy during this important three-day event. Each year, I am amazed at all the different people that I run into. We are all busy in our daily lives in business and sometimes lose touch with colleagues. But at the WorkBoat Show, everyone seems to pick up immediately where they left off the year before. Because of this, there is a great deal of catching up to do and good information that is exchanged. I always learn about company changes, expansion plans, new trends and even business opportunities. I also receive face-to-face feedback from individuals who read this column. Some stop to offer

inexplicably failed to take into account a loss of propulsion, which isn’t exactly a rare occurrence in shipping. This despite the fact that the El Faro had a required and approved Safety Management System in place which, in the end, did not help. Vittone aptly refers to this unfounded and unwarranted belief in the plan as the “illusion of control.” They thought they were in control and were fully committed to the plan and its very risky routing choice that formed its backbone. So much so that it became psychologically impossible to turn around before it was too late, despite mounting evidence that they should. Apparently, no one ashore was willing to suggest or demand a safer course of action. The El Faro lost power at exactly the wrong place and time, and Joaquin quickly moved in for checkmate. Any plan for a high-stakes situation that includes some version of “this’ll work fine as long as nothing goes wrong” is a plan that you want absolutely nothing to do with.

praise for a position I have taken or an opinion that I have expressed. Others take me to task for something I wrote that they disagree with. I always enjoy these exchanges and definitely welcome all of the feedback. I always learn something new at the WorkBoat Show. There is, after all, aisle-after-aisle of vendors exhibiting the latest products and services for the maritime industry. For example, this year I learned about a new technology that had piping that can be installed without welding and is approved by the Coast Guard. I learned a great deal about alternative energy sources, something that is definitely on the minds of all operators today. I saw space-age designs for commercial vessels of the future and the latest navigation and marine electronics that impressed and amazed me. Of course, the world’s major engine companies were again present at the show and showcased the latest propulsion products that will deliver needed power along with reduced emissions. Everything you need for a vessel and crew was at the WorkBoat Show again this year, and it was more than anyone can see in just three days. www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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NOVEMBER 2015 DAY RATES, FLEET UTILIZATION VESSEL TYPE

OSV Day Rates Human factor may be the biggest threat to the Gulf By Bill Pike

erhaps the least acknowledged and understood threat to the Gulf of Mexico is the offshore workforce. Bruce Burch, senior well control engineer at Mercury Well Control, delivered a scary, but truthful presentation to the IADC’s Drilling Engineering Committee meeting in Houston in November. He detailed the scope of potential human failure in the Gulf in the present, depressed environment. The human factor crisis revolves around two issues, he said. The first is training, which he said has gotten lax. That applies not just to classroom training but also to follow-up training and on-the-job experience. In the current environment, with per-

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SUPPLY (DWT) sonnel wor1,999 & below $ 8,574 $ 8,694 $15,283 74% 96% ried about 2,000-2,999 $15,986 $14,031 $25,232 55% 90% job retention 3,000-3,999 $23,750 $25,333 $31,500 87% 100% and re4,000-4,999 $24,340 $24,340 $31,250 100% 100% employment 5,000 & above $32,450 $26,225 $39,756 75% 100% prospects, CREWBOATS full attenUnder 170' $ 3,550 $ 3,453 $ 4,538 49% 93% tion is not 170' & over $ 5,967 $ 5,653 $ 8,523 79% 81% devoted to SOURCE: WorkBoat survey of 32 offshore service vessel companies. tasks at hand, including training. This is exacerbated, Burch arissue, as in Macondo. gues, by accepting subjective evidence Having been through a major downas fact. That is, we take mistaken obturn in the offshore industry, I can attest servations and definitive, but unproven, to Burch’s observations. I have seen a statements as facts that we then act distracted workforce make errors. upon, although they may be no more Is the industry prepared to deal with than one colleagues’ repeated asserthis issue going forward? It is tough tions or another’s comments resulting to say. While industry and regulators from a misunderstood observation. have taken important technical steps “And if the ‘fact’ — although not to prevent another Macondo, the same correct — doesn’t cause a major cannot be said of the threat to marine impact, we assume it’s right until years infrastructure, including OSVs, created down the road,” when we prove it’s by a distracted, inadequately trained not, or when the “fact” causes a major and overconfident workforce.

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12/15/15 3:26 PM

STOCK CHART

WorkBoat Composite Index

Stocks post second straight gain

For the complete up-to-date WorkBoat Stock Index, go to: www.workboat.com/ workboat-index.aspx INDEX NET PERCENT COMPARISONS 10/30/15 11/30/15 CHANGE CHANGE Operators 320.84 319.60 -1.24 -0.39 Suppliers 2555.92 2605.40 49.49 1.94 Shipyards 1946.13 1936.63 -9.50 -0.49 Workboat Composite 1608.84 1626.22 17.38 1.08 PHLX Oil Service Index 177.26 179.00 1.74 1.00 Dow Jones Industrials 17663.54 17719.92 56.38 0.32 Standard & Poors 500 2079.36 2080.41 1.05 0.05

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fter gaining 11% in October, the Workboat Composite Index gained a modest 1% in November. For the month, winners topped losers 17-13. There were several winners during the month from the energy sector, however, several oil service operators continue to suffer, notably Tidewater, which lost 23% in November. The New Orleans-based offshore service vessel operator posted a fiscal second-quarter earnings loss of 93 cents a share. This follows the previous quarter’s loss of 32 cents a share. In its quarterly earnings call in November, Jeffrey M. Platt, Tidewater’s president and chief executive officer, said the consecutive quarterly losses reflect the accounting and operating 2:47 PM realities of managing during the severe industry downturn. Platt said this “financial noise” masks the fundamental strengths of the company. “Those strengths are becoming increasingly more important for weathering this energy industry downturn and being well positioned to capitalize on events and trends when the recovery arrives,” he told analysts. Platt highlighted some of those strengths. While vessel revenues in the quarter declined $34.2 million from the June quarter, the 11.5% decline was matched by a similar percentage decline in Tidewater’s vessel operating costs. The company boasts a modern fleet, with over 95% of Tidewater’s active vessels entering service after the fiscal 2000 year. “We have had to stack additional vessels this quarter, including some of our newer ones, but that, again, is a reflection of current market conditions and our decision for maximizing profit potential,” Platt said.

— David Krapf

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/15/15 3:26 PM

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12/15/15 1:54 PM

Inland Insider Uber for barge freight?

n the early 1980s I explored launching a barge freight-trading clearinghouse similar to the Merchants Exchange of St. Louis, which back then was used primarily for grain. A survey of about 25 major towing companies, compared to about 10 now, indicated that a network of brokerage services already existed. Barge brokerage was primarily based on trading commodities rather than freight. Fast forward 30 years and our communications have been completely transformed by instant personal devices that are able to query all kinds of data and services anywhere. One of these services, Uber, is a reflection of the radical transformation of communications technology for personal transportation. With Uber, personal transport

Insurance Watch

Who owns that shipyard?

ne big problem is finding out who actually owns a shipyard, building, ship, truck or other thing that needs insurance. We’re talking about something called “insurable interest.” In basic terms, this means the real owner. It might sound like common sense. If the real owner is identified as the owner on an insurance policy then there is no problem if a damage claim is presented to the insurance company. But many times there is an owner in the name of one company but another company (an operations company) actually runs the business. Often, the owner of both entities is the same. Also, that same business owner often doesn’t identify all of the entities that they’ve set up. This may present a huge problem when a claim arises. If 14

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on demand can essentially be provided by an electronic brokerage network that links passengers with drivers. There are other direct competitors for Uber and other applications to the freight transport sector. For example, Uber-like electronic brokerages are increasing in truck freight transport both in the small package market and the more conventional truckload sector. Historically, there have been many truck freight brokerages particularly for independent drivers (owner-operators) and specialized commodities such as perishables. The rise of electronic brokerages threatens the old institutional relationships of existing brick-andmortar brokers. Electronic brokers are quicker and have a larger reach. This generally results in lower prices and/ or improved services. Traditional truck freight brokers will become an endangered species from this “Uberization.” Applying electronic freight brokerage to the barge sector is more remote,

the actual legal owner of the property is other than what’s shown on an insurance policy, the policy may not respond because there is no “insurable interest” for the person or entity on the policy. In a recent case the entity that was named on the insurance policy was the operating company, not the actual owner of the property. The bank holding the mortgage accepted proof of insurance that showed the wrong name as the property owner. There was a devastating fire. When the insurance company’s claims adjuster showed up, he asked who the owner was. The company owner named the actual company that owned the property. The rather shocked claims adjuster explained that he didn’t see that entity named anywhere on the insurance policy. Technically both the owner and the bank were out of luck. After some very heavy negotiations that included pointing out that the owners of both entities were the same, the insurer relented and agreed to pay the claim.

because of the limited number of major towing companies on each of the different river and commodity By Kevin Horn markets. Nearly all barge freight is sourced by large integrated industrial enterprises with multiple locations and markets. These companies are typically interested in trading barge freight for access to competitive markets rather than obtaining lower freight costs from more towing competitors. The same reasons why barge freight trading was a peculiar industry phenomenon 30 years ago are still in place today. Barge freight brokerage will remain commodity and industry based. Kevin Horn is a senior manager with GEC Inc., Delaplane, Va. He can be contacted at khorn@gecinc.com.

The lesson is that owners should provide insurers with a copy of the deed on the property. The same must be done for a new building. It seems like a big By Gene pain but it’s time McKeever well spent. The same goes for vessels. Many vessel owners have each vessel listed as a separate company. Share the ownership documentation with your insurance agent — no exceptions. These are simple things that can save you a lot of hassle come claims time. Gene McKeever is a marine insurance agent with Allen Insurance and Financial. He can be reached at 800-4394311 or gmckeever@allenif.com

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/15/15 3:26 PM

Legal Talk Limitation of liability in the El Faro sinking

n important legal development sets the stage for litigation arising from the Oct. 1 sinking of the containership El Faro. On Oct. 30, vessel interests filed for exoneration from or limitation of liability. This means that they seek to put a cap on payments made to claimants suing them in the aftermath of the loss. This cap is computed from the post-accident value of the vessel and freights pending. A complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida to establish a figure of $15.3 million as a monetary cap on these lawsuits. The Limitation of Shipowners’ Liability Act By Tim Akpinar of 1851 covers limitation actions under U.S. maritime law. This 19th century law originated at a time when the nation’s mercantile fleet was in its infancy and needed protection to encourage the growth of commerce. The intent was to give a break to shipping companies that didn’t have a great deal of control over the operation of their square-rigged cargo ships located 10,000 miles away on the other side of the globe. If ship owners could demonstrate that they didn’t have knowledge and participation in the factors that caused a collision, sinking, grounding, or other type of maritime loss, they could limit their liability to the post-accident value of a vessel plus freights pending. Since its enactment, the law has been applied in a number of high-profile cases. It was invoked after the Titanic sank in 1912, where the liner’s owner succeeded in limiting liability to about $92,000, the value of a string of lifeboats that survived the disaster.

More recently, the City of New York attempted to limit its liability to about $14.4 million after the 2003 Staten Island Ferry accident where 11 people died and over 60 were injured. That figure represented the post-casualty value of the ferry Andrew Barberi. However, the city was hurt by the National Transportation Safety Board’s determination that the accident resulted from poor oversight and failure to utilize effective safety measures.

Tim Akpinar is a Little Neck, N.Y.-based maritime attorney and former marine engineer. He can be reached at 718-2249824 or t.akpinar@verizon.net.

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JANUARY 2016

NEWS LOG WORKBOAT LEADERSHIP PROGRAM ENTERING THIRD YEAR

NEWS BITTS TRAILER BRIDGE, CROWLEY PATENT LAWSUIT DISMISSED

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Joe Theismann presents program graduate Chad Fuhrmann with his certificate.

raduates of the WorkBoat Strategic Leadership Development Program were greeted by football great Joe Theismann at their graduation luncheon during the International WorkBoat Show in December. The luncheon capped the second year of the joint program with Louisiana State University’s Executive Leadership Program. The former NFL MVP quarterback and Super Bowl champion told the class of maritime professionals “leadership the way I define it is purely influence.” Over two years the WorkBoat/LSU program has graduated 32 midcareer students and a third class is forming for 2016. “The maritime group is one of the best networking classes. They really mesh well together,” said Michelle Boullion, associate director of the LSU executive education program. “It’s a good network approach.” Robin Kistler, the LSU program director, said the training includes case studies on business strategy and execution, and benefits from being able to tap LSU’s large faculty. — Kirk Moore

Bollinger settles patrol boat lawsuit with the U.S.

ollinger Shipyards will pay $8.5 million to settle government allegations it lied about the hull strength of eight lengthened U.S. Coast Guard cutters, which buckled and had to be taken out of service. The U.S. Department of Justice suit filed in July 2011 under the False Claims Act originally sought $38.6 million in non-contract damages, which could have tripled to nearly $120 million. 16

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“Those who expect to do business with the government must do so fairly and honestly,” Benjamin Mizer, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said in announcing the deal in December. A copy of the settlement agreement said it is “neither an admission of liability by Bollinger nor a concession by the United States that its claims are not well founded.” It is a “compromise of disputed claims” to avoid protracted litigation.

railer Bridge Inc. and Crowley Maritime Corp. have agreed to dismiss a patent infringement suit over a method for loading/off-loading a flat deck barge. Trailer Bridge filed the case in federal court in Puerto Rico last May claiming Crowley used the patented procedure without authorization. Trailer Bridge was issued a patent in March 2008, 10 years after first filing for it on a method that involves a ramp from the dock to the deck and a reach stacker. In court documents, Crowley officials insisted their company was “confident that it has not infringed a valid patent.” Its flat deck barge uses basic equipment for loading and unloading “that was first deployed by Crowley decades ago.” Neither of the Jacksonville, Fla.based companies would comment. — D.K. DuPont

Trial was set to begin in April in federal court in New Orleans, and U.S. District Judge Sarah Vance had ordered the sides to meet with an outside mediator this past July. When the suit was first filed, the Lockport, La.-based shipyard said it had been “open and cooperative with the government” and tried to find a way to resolve the dispute outside of court, “but we are fully prepared to defend our good name aggressively in a court of law.” The lead attorney for Bollinger, now owned by Edison Chouest Offshore, could not be reached at press time. The U.S. alleged Bollinger ran longitudinal strength calculations three times and provided the Coast Guard with only the highest and most inaccurate data for the 110' Island-class patrol boats (WPBs) that were stretched to 123'. The vessels, originally built by

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/15/15 4:16 PM

NEWS BITTS Bollinger, were modified at a cost of $80 million under a contract awarded in 2002. The case took a number of turns. Judge Vance dismissed the suit in October 2013, saying the government presented no facts Bollinger deliberately lied. The U.S. argued in an appeal that it clearly described the alleged fraud and offered ample data to support its claims. One month after the first cutter, the Matagorda, was delivered in 2004, the crew discovered the vessel “had suffered a structural casualty that included buckling of the hull,” the U.S. said. Judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit agreed with the government in late 2014, noting the allegations were sufficient enough “to allow a factfinder to infer that [Bollinger] either knew that their statements were false or had a reckless disregard of their truth or falsity.” Bollinger continues to build vessels for the Coast Guard. Of the eight cutters decommissioned in 2007, two were transferred to Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division and three others were scrapped at the Coast Guard yard in Baltimore in 2010, a spokesman said. The last three were to stay at the Maryland yard for inspection during the case, and then the Coast Guard could decide how to dispose of them. — Dale K. DuPont

Signal International exits bankruptcy

ignal International Inc. exited bankruptcy court with a new name — World Marine LLC — and new owners — the Retirement Systems of Alabama (RSA), the sole bidders on the shipyard’s assets. “Management will remain intact. We will not have any input into day-to-day operations,” said Hunter Harrell, RSA’s director of private placement. They also are sending job letters to the 302 employees of the Mobile, Ala.-based company that specializes in ship and rig repair, as well as drilling and jackup rigs and platforms. “I’d like to see the company maybe expand into other areas,” she said, while also noting that RSA doesn’t have any plans to sell the business right now. As for the lack of other bidders, Harrell said she was a little surprised “but given the industry right now, I understand.” Signal was hurt by falling oil and gas prices but also faced $20 million in federal court claims from allegations of abusing Indian guest workers, which precipitated the Chapter 11 filing in July. Signal’s revenue fell from $175.9 million in 2012 to $74.4 million in 2013, bankruptcy court records show. In 2014, earnings were $19.2 million compared to $41.6 million in 2012.

NEW BARGE FLEETING OPERATION TO BEGIN

major new Mississippi River barge fleeting and switching operation will be activated on Jan. 1 by American River Transportation Co. (ARTCO) at Cairo, Ill. Cairo harbor is a busy hub in the inland waterway supply chain, the company said. The new operation will be based in Wickliffe, Ky., and will provide fleeting and switching operations from mile 948 on the Lower Mississippi River to mile 29 on the Upper Mississippi and mile 974 on the Ohio River. ARTCO began staffing the new location in November and recruiting new personnel. ARTCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of ADM. — Ken Hocke

The Teachers’ Retirement System of Alabama and Employees’ Retirement System of Alabama owned about 47% of Signal’s shares and agreed to serve as a stalking horse bidder and provide about $90 million in bankruptcy financing. The company was marketed to prospective domestic and international buyers, but none bid. The $90 millionplus stalking horse bid, “was the starting price, and that’s a big number,” J. Scott Victor, managing director of SSG Capital Advisors, which was handling the sale, earlier told WorkBoat. As part of the court settlement with the Indian workers, Signal issued an apology saying it “deeply regrets the living conditions the guest workers CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS

U.S. Coast Guard

The Matagorda’s hull buckled one month after delivery in 2004.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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ew York state officials expect the “new New York bridge” across the Hudson River will be open to westbound traffic by mid-2017. An earlier opening of the new span, north of the existing Tappan Zee Bridge, had been predicted for late 2016, but New York Thruway executive director Robert Megna announced a revised timetable after the December 2015 issue of WorkBoat went to press.

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were subjected to,” according to a copy of the letter from CEO Richard Marler posted on the site of the Southern Poverty Law Center, which represented the workers in the case. Signal hired about 500 welders and shipfitters from India through a recruiting service on H-2B visas to handle increased business after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The workers claimed they lived in substandard conditions for which they were charged $1,050 a month and had to pay as much as $20,000 each for a job. Signal executives declined to comment. The Chapter 11 case is the latest development in the history of a company which itself has acquired other yards out of bankruptcy court, including Bender Shipbuilding & Repair’s Mobile assets five years ago. In late 2002, another bankruptcy court approved the sale of Friede Goldman’s Offshore Division to ACON Investments, a Washington, D.C.-based private investment firm, for $18 million cash and the assumption of $49 million in debt. ACON formed Signal to operate Friede Goldman’s Texas and Mississippi fabrication yards. — D.K. DuPont

Barge industry needs infrastructure help

t’s nothing new: The inland waterways are in dire need of infrastructure improvements. That message was highlighted at November’s annual meeting of the Waterways Council Inc. held in New Orleans. “When we have interruptions to service, the 2012 flood, the drought … if there is any kind of interruptions in service the world is watching and listening to you,” Ken Ericksen, senior vice president at Informa Economics, said. “And when they hear there are interruptions, they hear that they can’t get something. And if they can’t get something … they go to the next best place.” Mike Fewell manages barge logistics for Dow Chemical. He said shippers 18

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Corps of Engineers Little Rock District

A barge makes its way through the McKlellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System lock and dam.

need a more reliable inland waterways infrastructure and help in dealing with unscheduled delays. “We need some consistent delay metrics at every lock so as a shipper, I can better predict when my product is going to get to a customer.” Fewell’s and Dow’s suggested actions include increased funding for operation and maintenance, full implementation of WRRDA, and that all Inland Waterways Trust Fund and Harbor Maintenance Tax revenues are used for their intended purpose. He added that the industry needs to get the word out that barge transportation is the most efficient mode — with lower emissions, lower costs, and a good environmental safety record. “As an industry, the barge group needs to do a better job advertising this to the general public,” Fewell said. “I think there’s an opportunity where we can be better known for what we do and how well we do it.” — David Krapf

Report says U.S. needs maritime strength for security

hina’s growing sea power and the small number of U.S. merchant ships threaten U.S. economic and military security, a new report concludes. China has “the ability to control, or even halt, shipping of essential goods by other nations. Nearly 30 percent of global trade currently passes through the South China Sea,” said the authors of “Sea Strangulation: How the United States has become vulnerable to Chinese maritime coercion.” The authors, Hawaii Pacific University professors Patrick Bratton and

Capt. Carl Schuster, said the best way to counter the threat is to “strengthen, and if possible expand, the U.S. Merchant Marine” by beefing up the Maritime Security Program and maintaining the Jones Act. The U.S.-flag fleet includes about 80 ships engaged in foreign trade and 85-90 in domestic trade. The pool of mariners qualified for oceangoing service is 11,000 to 12,000. They are far outnumbered by China, which counts 3,941 bluewater vessels, another 3,000 in coastal work, and 500,000 commercial mariners. “America’s weakness in commercial shipping could become our Achilles’ heel,” if war were to break out with China or others, who could blockade supplies for U.S. forces, the report said. What’s more, “China does not need to blockade foreign ports to cut off the flow of goods: it will soon have the ability to control U.S. foreign trade” by manipulating shipping rates or ocean carrier service, the authors wrote. “The mere threat would disrupt global financial markets.” “It is hard to believe that our maritime capabilities are shrinking to those comparable during the time of the Spanish-American War, when the U.S. government had to charter foreignflagged vessels to bring coal to the ships of the Great White Fleet,” Don Marcus, president of the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), said in the report. “Does anyone really believe that the world has evolved into a friendlier place where we can now entrust our security to foreign shipping interests?” — D.K. DuPont

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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12/10/15 11:20 AM

Barge Film

River Stars Film documents the ebbs and flows of life on the river.

By Pamela Glass, Washington Correspondent

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orking on a towboat is anything but glamorous. It is noisy, dirty, strenuous, monotonous and repetitive — and it’s often dangerous. You get homesick. Sometimes there are conflicts with co-workers. It’s slow and boring. You’re out there for 28 days, and most people off the river don’t have a clue about what you do. So why would any one want to make a movie about it? The unusual lifestyle of a mariner on the waterways is exactly what attracted Austin, Texas, filmmaker Ben Powell to spend nearly four years filming, editing and learning what makes this silent industry tick. The result is “BARGE,” a 75-minute documentary that has been showing at film festivals across

the country for the past year. It has garnered positive press reviews, received several top independent filmmaking awards and has introduced movie-goers from San Francisco to New York City to the rigors and camaraderie that make life on a Mississippi River towboat such a unique experience. “I grew up in Mississippi and always saw the barges going by,” Powell said of his fascination with river life. “I heard epic stories about the people that worked out there. As soon as we started the project, I realized that we had a unique story because everyone we talked to had a common sense of pride about river work and was very open to talking about it.” This is not a documentary film that will give you information overload. There are no facts

Photos courtesy of Ben Powell / BARGE

BARGE is a documentary about life on a Mississippi River towboat.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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and figures about all the commodities moved on the nation’s waterways. No explanations about how much they contribute to the national economy, or about how the infrastructure is crumbling and in bad need of repair. In fact there is no introduction, no narrator, no conclusion. The main characters aren’t identified. And there’s no real plot. Rather the film moves slowly like the river, full of poetic and beautiful shots of the water, its waves and stillness, the sunrises and sunsets. Crewmembers are the unscripted actors with their dirty T-shirts, scuffed boots, and deep Southern drawls speaking candidly of themselves, their work and what drew them to the river. The flow of the film makes you feel as if you are onboard, with the vibration of the boat’s movement beneath your feet, the humming of the engine in your ears, and the stories of the crew capturing your conscience. THEY JUST DON’T GIVE IT UP This is a film about camaraderie, friendship, and embracing what life brings your way. This crew has formed a unique bond, as they joke, argue and eat together, and share the daily grind of their work as well as their hopes and aspirations. You watch them manipulate massive steel wire cables,

paint the deck, polish the wood in the wheelhouse, watch TV, worry about the health of their pets, and chow down on fish on Fridays, BBQ rib eye on Saturdays and chicken on Sundays. You are happy that the former prison inmate has another shot at life. You can understand why a deckhand chose this profession because several generations of his family did so before him. You sympathize with the veteran engineer who won’t retire because he loves his work. You feel for the young deckhand who expresses doubts about his suitability for the job. And you admire the captain, who has to safely steer the boat down the river and into port, and also oversee the work of his crew and monitor their happiness onboard. “You’ve got some guys, they just don’t give it up,” Capt. Jon Givens said from the wheelhouse as he reflected about river life. “You can take them off this thing on a stretcher. Older guys in their 70s, 80s. Hell, this is all they know. This is their family. Towboating runs deep.” Working on towboats is about loving your work, and for many, it's about second chances and finding a purpose. “I’ve been working for 12 years and I love the water, moving barges and riding the boats,” said Daniel Brown, a deckhand, who served time in prison.

The filmmaker spent 15 days with crewmembers over three years.

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'When I'm home, I'm thinking of the boat all the time. I get up at 5 a.m. and make my rounds. It makes me feel wanted and appreciated.' Gale Ferrell, engineer “I’ve been at the bottom of the barrel and I hope I can keep going up.” As Gale Ferrell, the engineer, explained, “When I’m home, I’m thinking of the boat all the time. I get up at 5 a.m. and make my rounds. It makes me feel wanted and appreciated.” For Larry Nance, the cook, working on a towboat represented a new chance at life. “I’m a misfit. I had a hard time finding a job. The river gave me a second chance, and for the first time I’m living above the poverty level,” he said, adding that his job is far bigger than just feeding the crew. Transporting agricultural products “means that we are feeding the world.” Money is also an attraction. At what other job can someone without a college education make over $100,000 a year? THREE YEARS IN THE WORKS Gaining access to film these stories wasn’t easy. Powell said he was rebuffed by several towing companies that “had lots of strict rules” before Jantran Inc. based in Rosedale, Miss., agreed to let him on board a towboat. The company gave him free rein to film on the 128'×42' Mary Parker, and imposed no restrictions on the content of the film, he said. Powell spent 15 days on the vessel over the course of three years and four trips along the Lower Mississippi River from Rosedale to the Port of New Orleans and back. The crew cleared a bunk for him, shared meals with him and after an initial skepticism, opened up on camera. “They just forgot we were there and they were comfortable enough to be themselves.” Powell said he learned a lot about the challenges of navigating the Mississippi with a large tow, and about the 21

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Barge Film importance of the cargo that they carry. As the captain explained: “When you get in your car and leave your driveway, guess what? The tires that you’re rolling on, the petroleum used to make them, was in a barge. Asphalt, that stuff was in a barge. Styrofoam plates, plastic cups, plastic chairs — all the chemicals that were involved in making that stuff was in a barge.” This message resonated with many of those who saw the film at a screening in New York City in November. “I had no idea about the components of the products that they move everyday on barges. In New York, you are so untouched by all that,” Kate Battelle, an interior designer, said after exiting the Bow Tie Cinema in New York’s Chelsea district. “I was also happy to see that people who screwed up can get a job opportunity that takes them somewhere.” “This is a major transportation mode that people are probably not aware

Towboating has offered a second chance for many crewmembers.

of,” added Daphna Hoffman, a jewelry designer. Reaction from river mariners has been overwhelmingly positive. “I was glad to see that you didn’t trash it up like reality TV,” Kevin Wallace, an 11year towboater from Memphis, Tenn., wrote on the film’s FaceBook page. “It was true depiction of life on the river.”

Powell said that he became good friends with the crew of the Mary Parker, and “they loved the film so much that they can’t wait for BARGE 2.” The national tour of “BARGE” ended with the New York screening, but the film will be available on iTunes in February.

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Metal Shark

Expansion Team Louisiana boatbuilder is all about growth.

By Ken Hocke, Senior Editor

n 2010, Metal Shark Aluminum Boats executive Matthew Unger told WorkBoat, “We’ve been working hard to grow. You have to keep your customers happy.” And that’s what Metal Shark did. Last January, the company acquired a 25-acre waterfront tract in Franklin, La., for a new facility that would build aluminum and steel vessels up to 250'. Six months later, it was operational. (Metal Shark had previously only built vessels at its Jeanerette, La., yard that could fit on a trailer.) The Franklin shipyard features over 60,000 sq. ft. of workspace, a newly constructed assembly building with overhead cranes, large-capacity Marine Travelift boat hoist, and deepwater access to the Gulf of Mexico. Construction at the site is ongoing and the company plans to continue its expansion well beyond this first phase. Of the 25 acres, only three to five are currently being used.

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“We’ve almost outgrown the capacity in the new yard already,” Carl Wegener, Metal Shark’s director of commercial sales, said at the Pacific Marine Expo in Seattle in November.

Metal Shark

Metal Shark opened a second yard last year to build bigger boats.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS Metal Shark’s roots go back to 1978 and Gravois Aluminum Boats, which was building aluminum recreational and fishing boats and was very successful at it. In 2004, Jimmy Gravois was walking the floor at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans and stopped by the American Marine Holdings booth. It just so happened that AMH was looking for an aluminum boatbuilding partner to target military and municipal markets. An agreement was struck and Metal Shark was founded in 2005. The name refers to the line of boats the partners were building, which began www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 10:57 AM

Ken Hocke

The yard is building boats for state, municipal and federal governments.

then the orders start up again. That’s why we won’t stock parts for more boats than the ones we know are already ordered. You don’t want to have expensive parts in inventory when a gap in orders hits.” Ken Hocke

with a 25-footer for the Navy. Though successful, the GravoisAMH partnership eventually ended. Afterward, Gravois took on Chris Allard as his new partner. Allard, a Webb Institute-trained naval architect and marine engineer, had been working for AMH subsidiary Donzi Marine. Since then, the yard has forged a close relationship with the Coast Guard and the Navy, building hundreds of boats for them over the past decade. “We’re involved in five IDIQ (indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity) contracts,” Allard, Metal Shark’s president said as he walked the Franklin yard. “Every year the government adds boats against those IDIQs.” The Jeanerette yard is not a waterside facility, so if Metal Shark wanted to bid on larger military boat contracts, it needed a facility on the water. “This is really where our future is going to be, expanding into larger military boats and into the commercial sector,” Allard said. The new yard is working on a number of projects, including a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract for 45' patrol boats for Asia. (Metal Shark also has an FMS contract to build patrol boats for Africa.) Allard said when you deal with these big contracts, it’s important to manage your inventory. “We may have a contract for 30 boats, but we only keep inventory for about six at a time,” he said. “There are gaps in the orders,

COMMERCIAL DELIVERIES On the commercial side, the yard recently completed a 75'×24' dive boat for Aqueos Corp., Broussard, La., that features an indoor hyperbaric chamber. “This is what I’m talking about in focusing more on the commercial sector,” said Allard. The yard also recently delivered a new aluminum 75'×24' custom configured multipurpose port security fireboat to the Port of South Louisiana, LaPlace, La. Based on Metal Shark’s Enduranceclass catamaran design, the boat employs the latest technology to support fire rescue missions, command and control (C2) operations, and aroundthe-clock port security efforts. The fully integrated, standalone C2 platform is designed for multiagency coordination in emergency response situations. A positive-pressure chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield explosive (CBRNE) ventilation system provides crew protection in disaster response situations. The 75' Endurance fire-rescue boat is fully equipped to stay on station for extended periods. For firefighting, two dedicated John Deere 9L drive engines channel up to 6,000 gpm through an oversized water main where electronic valves divert water to three radio frequencycontrolled monitors. In addition, there are four 2.5" hydrant connections and a 400-gal. foam

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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The Coast Guard’s Response BoatSmall IIs are built on a rotisserie.

reservoir. Two Caterpillar C-18 diesel engines in a conventional straight-shaft inboard configuration through Twin Disc marine gears provide the new vessel’s main propulsion. The 75' Endurance has a cruising speed of 25 knots while yielding a nominal operating range of over 500 miles. The pilothouse has 360° visibility. Last December, Metal Shark inked a deal with Damen Shipyards to market some of Damen’s designs, including fast crew/supply boats, harbor and terminal vessels, wind farm support vessels, and offshore patrol boats. “Some designs at other yards are dated,” said Allard. “These Damen designs are more technologically modern.” The designs would be a good fit for offshore crewboats when that sector of the industry cycles back up, Allard said. “We are also interested in the offshore wind energy market.” For Metal Shark, moving into the commercial market was the right thing to do, but military sales are still very important. “The initial reason we looked to expand was to get a chance to bid on the bigger boat military contracts,” he said, “and we take the same approach as we do with the high volume contracts. We may not be the cheapest out there, but we build high quality boats.” BEND IT Though the Franklin location has received more attention recently, the Jeanerette yard is busier than ever. Production continues at Metal Shark on Coast Guard response boats and aids to navigation, and Navy force protection boats and high-speed maneuverable surface target program boats. The company has produced seven classes of vessels for the Coast Guard and nine classes of vessels for the Navy. “The difference between build25

12/13/15 11:01 AM

ing for the Coast Guard and building for the Navy is that a Coast Guard boat goes all over the country while a Navy boat goes to its destination and stays there,” said Allard. Back at the Jeanerette facility, Allard said Metal Shark prefers to bend its aluminum hulls into boats rather than weld whenever possible. “We do a tremendous amount of bending,” he said. “Anywhere we can bend, we bend instead of weld.” Allard said bending makes for a faster and stronger boat. It also allows for the use of a thinner, lighter aluminum, and it saves time over welding. “This is not a shipyard. This is a factory,” he said. Some other recent newbuilds from Metal Shark: • Two 55' Defiant-class monohull fireboats for the Plaquemines Port, Harbor & Terminal District, Belle Chasse, La., and a 32' Defiant-class monohull fireboat for the Iona Macgregor (Fla.)

Metal Shark

75' Endurance-class port security fire-rescue boat for the Port of South Louisiana was delivered in November. The cat can hit speeds of 25 knots.

Fire Department. • Patrol boats for state and local law enforcement and fire rescue agencies including a 26' Relentless-class center console patrol boat for the Massachusetts State Police, a 38' Defiant-class patrol boat for St. Tammany Parish (La.) Sheriff’s Department and a 40' Fearless-class center console for the Florida Fish & Wildlife Commission.

• Patrol boats for FMS contracts including 32' Defiant-class patrol boats for Uruguay, 38' Defiant-class patrol boats for Bangladesh, 38' Defiant-class patrol boats for Senegal, and 24' Riverine boats for several Latin American countries. • Production of multiple 7-meter (23') RIBs for the Navy.

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CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS

On TheWays

ON THE WAYS

Vane Brothers

Chesapeake delivers 3,000-hp tug to Vane Brothers

94' tug will work in the New York Harbor bunker trade.

altimore-based Vane Brothers took delivery in November of the Fort Schulyer from Chesapeake Shipbuilding in Salisbury, Md. The delivery took place almost seven years to the day after the tug Sassafras, the first of the Sassafras-class tugs, was commissioned in 2008. The 94' tug was designed by Entech Designs LLC, Kenner, La., to work the shallow waters of Chesapeake Bay and handle a series of 30,000-bbl. barges. At the time, the Sassafras was the first of a four-boat order. The Fort Schulyer, the 11th Sassafras-class boat, is named for the State University of New York Maritime College. Now a major player in the New York Harbor bunker trade, Vane’s Fort Schuyler joins its sister tug, the Kings Point, delivered last April. Fort Schuyler, like its sisters, is 94'×34'×15', powered by twin Caterpillar 3512 Tier 3 engines delivering a total of 3,000 hp. Twin Disc 6:1 reduction gears turn Troost 4-bladed open wheeled propellers. The vessel’s maneuverability is well suited to the teeming waters of New York Harbor as it is to the quiet tributaries of the Chesapeake. On deck, a JonRie InterTech single-drum hydraulic towing winch controls the barges in both towing and pushing operations. Crew comfort and safety is a top priority for Vane Broth-

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ers, according to port captain Jim Demske. An ergonomically designed wheelhouse and an engine room with plenty of headroom are augmented by subtler elements that add to habitability on the boat. “Soundproofing and insulation, custom joiner work, wider bunks and larger heads, Internet hook-ups, satellite television … all of this contributes to the crew’s well-being,” said Demske. “We use Rock Wool insulation, over Mascoat, thermal acoustic paint, gives superior insulation and greatly contributes to the noise control. This method of insulating is being specified on all of Vane Brothers’ new tugs.” Demske added that the tug features soft-core panels and overheads as well as heavy fire-rated doors to dampen sound. In the wheelhouse, the new tug is equipped with a full suite of Simrad electronics including Halo radars, gyro and satellite compasses and multifunction GPS and autopilot with touchscreen displays custom installed by Houma, La.based Rhodes Electronics. Recently, Chesapeake Shipbuilding and Vane inked a deal for three more tugs, the 15th, 16th and 17th boats in the Sassafras series. — Kathy Bergren Smith

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 12:31 PM

MetalCraft completes 66' fireboat for New York

New Metalcraft fireboat for FDNY.

draft, firefighters can access tight quarters close to shore and the flats around Kennedy International Airport, said Michael Buckheit, chief of the FDNY marine division. At launch, the hull is quick up on plane, and more efficient with speed and fuel. For the fireboat, the lower bow angles help meet American Boat & Yacht Council sightline standards for maintaining visibility from the helm. “She’s pretty quick. She slides through the gears smoothly. She’s a pleasure to drive,” said Bill Hannan, an FDNY fireboat pilot who put the Feehan through its early paces on Lake Ontario before his retirement in 2015. “It does close to 40 knots” even with a full load, said pilot Rich Borkowsky. — Kirk Moore

Bordelon Marine

he Fire Department City of New York christened the 66'×18'×3'5" fireboat William M. Feehan in November. Built by MetalCraft Marine Inc., Kingston, Ontario, the boatyard worked closely with the FDNY marine division. “They’re probably the single greatest group of guys we’ve ever worked with,” said Bob Clark, MetalCraft’s contracts manager. “It wasn’t unlimited money. But the things they wanted were all unique, high quality,” Clark said of the $4.7 million boat, funded primarily through federal grant money. “The development of the boat just got better and better,” Clark said. “It is, bar none, the best boat we have built.” The boat is named for an FDNY firefighter who died on 9/11. In the engine room there is standing headroom, and a trio of Caterpillar C-18 engines rated at 1,150 hp each, driving Hamilton HJ 403 waterjets with hoods connected by ZF 665 gears. That kicks the boat’s top speed up to 41 knots, from a cruise speed of 32 knots. A Cat C-9 engine rated at 510 hp drives the fire pump system, which includes two Darley ZSP models pushing 3,000 gpm at 150 psi that can dispense foam to one or both pumps. Up top is a Stang fire monitor mounted on the roof with remote controls, shooting 5,000 gpm at 80 psi. On deck, four Elkhart Brass SpitFire monitors – two electrically controlled on the bow, two operated manually amidships – put out 2,000 gpm at 80 psi each. For waterfront firefighting operations there are two Storz 6" land supply connections. The wheelhouse panel has the integrated Furuno TZ Touch suite of radar, GPS and chart plotters, and linked to the Flir Voyager III thermal night vision system atop the house. It even has Simrad side-scan sonar for searching the harbor bottom with a towable transponder. With the waterjet propulsion and 4"

MetalCraft

ordelon Marine Shipbuilders, Houma, La., delivered the 257'×52'×18' ultra-light intervention vessel Brandon Bordelon to its parent company, Bordelon Marine, in November. Well intervention normally deals with entering a well for reasons other than drilling, including managing well production. Designed by the company’s naval architects, the highly specialized vessel features a helideck, a 60-ton AHC crane with 3,000 meters of wire, 60 berths, a mezzanine deck with internal office and control rooms capable of supporting two full work class ROV systems. The vessel also offers 6,200 sq. ft. of clear useable deck space.

Ultra-light intervention vessel for Bordelon Marine.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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Bordelon takes delivery of well intervention OSV

12/13/15 12:31 PM

On TheWays

BOATBUILDING BITTS

Eastern Shipbuilding Group

astern Shipbuilding Group Inc. has launched the first in a series of four Z-Tech terminal and escort tugs for Bay Houston Towing Co. The 80'×38'3"×15'9" H. Douglas M was launched in November and is scheduled for delivery in early 2016. Twin Caterpillar 3516C, Tier 3 diesels, producing a total of 5,150 hp at 1,600 rpm, connected to Schottel SRP 1215FP Z-drives in nozzles will provide main propulsion. Ship’s service power will come from two John Deere 4045AFM85 powered gensets, sparking 99 kW of electrical power each. The hawser winch is a Markey Machinery DEPCF-48S-50 hp electric hawser winch. Eastern is simultaneously constructing an identical series of Z-Tech-class tugs for Suderman & Young Towing Co., the first of which was launched in September. In December, Eastern launched the 212'7"×59'1"×25'7" multipurpose field support vessel Harvey Stone for Harvey Gulf International Marine. — Ashley Herriman The Shearer Group Inc., Pittsburgh Region Clean Cities (PRCC) and Clean Fuels Clean Rivers (CFCR) are conducting a marine air quality study centered on the conversion of an inland towboat to dual fuel (diesel/ liquid natural gas) to reduce diesel emissions in marine vessels. The Maritime Administration grant awarded to the CFCR coalition is the first by the federal government that specifically targets the inland waterways market.

80' Z-Tech tug from Eastern Shipbuilding.

The Shearer Group Inc.

Dual-fuel towboat conversion.

CFCR will convert a towboat to burn LNG as its fuel source and monitor the emissions before and after. It is expected to be the first dual-fuel LNG towboat on the inland waterways upon completion of the conversion. VT Halter Marine Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., has launched the second of two articulated tug-barge (ATB) units for Bouchard Transportation Co., part of a major expansion program for the Melville, N.Y.-based coastal and oceangoing petroleum barge company. The 628'×91'×47' B. No. 272 has a 250,000-bbl. capacity and is ABS and Coast Guard certified for Jones Act service. When completed, the barge will be paired with the tug Donna J. Bouchard, which was launched by VT Halter in September. — A. Herriman Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding, Sturgeon Bay, Wis., has delivered a new articulated tug barge unit (ATB) made up of the 6,000-hp tug Leigh Ann Moran and 160,000-bbl. tank barge Mississippi to Moran Towing Corp. One more ATB unit, a 5,300-hp tug and 120,000bbl. barge, is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2016. Its full load displacement, including lightship weight and cargo weight, is 24,259 LT. The ATB unit will work the East Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico.

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www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 12:32 PM

EASTERN SHIPBUILDING GROUP, INC.

FULL STEAM AHEAD

We are eager to serve you in 2016 and beyond!

We Want To Thank Our Customers For Building With Us

To add an ESG built vessel to your fleet, contact us at: Tel: 850-763-1900 ext 3216 Fax: 850-763-7904 Email: sberthold@easternshipbuilding.com

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REPAIRS

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CONVERSIONS 12/10/15 11:20 12/3/2015 12:50:29 PMAM

On TheWays

class tugs are 19.34×7.34 meters (63.44'×24.08'), have a bollard pull of 22.6 metric tonnes and a 10.5-knot running speed. — A. Herriman Lindblad Expeditions Holdings has signed a $95 million contract with Nichols Brothers Boat Builders for the construction of two 100-passenger coastal cruise vessels. The first vessel is scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2017 and the second in the second quarter of 2018.

Nichols will build two cruise vessels for Lindblad.

Damen Shipyards Group, The Netherlands, has signed a license agreement with Cleveland-based Great Lakes Shipyard to construct two ICE-class Stan Tugs 1907. The agreement was reached at the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans and marks the first time that Damen tugs will be built under license in the U.S. Great Lakes Shipyard will receive full construction, design and engineering support from Damen. The vessels will be operated by Great Lakes Towing Co., an affiliate of Great Lakes Shipyard. No specifics were announced but Damen’s standard Stan Tug 1907 ICE

Nichols Brothers

Damen Shipyards Group

Tugs to be built at Great Lakes Shipyard.

Plaquemines Port 55’ Multipurpose Port Security Boat

Built for the World’s Most Demanding Operators. Port of South Louisiana 75’ Multipurpose Port Security Boat

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The new OSV comes equipped with two Sonardyne Ranger 2 Pro thruhull USBL (ultra short baseline) full systems. Brandon Bordelon delivers a fully integrated ROV control room, ROV support offices, below deck work and storage spaces, extensive communications and ROV data network, plug and play, with patch panel racks installed — all tied into the vessel systems, bridge, office, and accommodation spaces. The new OSV is designed with removable bulwarks around the entire aft of the boat along with power, water, air, and hydraulic oil connections on the deck. The vessel is also equipped with four additional below deck Tier 3 generators, providing fully redundant power to the crane and ROV systems. “This vessel is the next generation design of the Stingray series and continues our commitment of the ULIV concept to the subsea market,” Wes Bordelon, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement announcing the delivery. “With the addition of a helideck and other integrated systems, the Brandon provides an additional highly capable and low cost vessel option to www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 12:32 PM

Kirk Moore

our clients.” The 3,285dwt Brandon Bordelon has a 143'×44' (123'×44' clear) rear cargo deck housing the two workclass ROVs that will be launched and recovered by the 60-ton NOV active heave-compensating crane. Capacities include 144,000 gals. of fuel; 250,000 gals. drill water; and 23,000 gals. potable water. Twin Tier 3 Cummins QSK60-M diesel engines, producing 2,200 hp each, provide the boat’s main propulsion power. The mains are directly connected to Schottel 1215 Z-drives. The package gives the Brandon Bordelon a service speed of 12 knots and a top speed of 14.5 knots. The boat is also fixed with two Schottel STT2 FP 950hp bowthrusters. Ship’s service power is provided by two Cummins QSK38 Tier 3 gensets, each 975 kW. The ROV’s power supply comes from a third 975-kW Cummins QSK 38 genset. The DP-2 system from Marine Technologies also includes bridge integration and full navigation suite, radar/ ECDIS/Doppler, VSAT Comm RAACI full automation and power management alarm and monitoring with paging, satellite TV and camera systems. The Brandon Bordelon is certified Subchapters L and I. — Ken Hocke

Boats from Scully's (top left) and Brunswick at this year’s International WorkBoat Show held in December.

rigid hull inflatables: a black 1100 Impact, and a gray 9-meter Interceptor, the hull built by MetalCraft Marine, Kingston, Ontario. The 1100 Impact is on its way to a south Florida customer to perform port security missions and is a beamier edition of the Brunswick design. “We launched this last year at WorkBoat with an extended beam that went from

10'2" to 12',” said Brunswick marketing coordinator Kelsey Nemeth. Nearby, Scully’s Aluminum Boats Inc., Morgan City, La., displayed its 20'×8'6' shallow-draft boat powered by a 150-hp Yamaha outboard. That model is employed in everything from survey work to monitoring whale activity near ports, said the company’s Kenny Patureau. — K. Moore

Brunswick and Scully draw visitors at WorkBoat Show

othing says you mean business like a machine gun. The 320 Justice Boston Whaler that Brunswick Commercial & Government Products, Edgewater, Fla., brought to the International WorkBoat Show in December sported both a .50 caliber M2 on the bow and 7.62 mm M240 on the gunwale. Built for a South American customer’s riverine patrol mission, the 32'×10'×22" Justice with its twin 300-hp Yamaha outboards dominated Brunswick’s display, alongside two www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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12/13/15 12:33 PM

Show Stoppers

Diversified Communications / Ed Levy

News from the 36th International WorkBoat Show.

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12/15/15 11:39 AM

From Staff Reports

ontinued low oil prices through the winter will bring more financial hardship — and with it more mergers and acquisitions — to the U.S. oil patch before price recovery begins by the third quarter of 2016, longtime industry analyst Kent Moors said. Moors said it’s a mistake to look at the market as a surplus meeting demand collapse, when it’s really a window into a future where other emerging suppliers will continue to challenge the old order dominated by petro-states. “Traditional analysis does not do much for us any more … For the first time in 40 years, you take the normal supply-demand and throw it out the window,” said Moors, a retired Duquesne University professor and president of ASIDA Inc., an international oil and gas consulting firm. Moors was the keynote speaker on the second day of the International WorkBoat Show in New Orleans in December. The surge of U.S. production from shale and other “tight oil” formations has major OPEC producers led by Saudi Arabia sticking to a position of not cutting production. It’s an attempt to wait out the higher-cost U.S. producers struggling with prices that fell below $40 bbl. in December. “The Saudis decided they weren’t going to cut any more,” Moors said. Intent on maintaining their global mar-

ket share, such “rentier nations” that depend on hard foreign currency sales of oil are not just in a fight with U.S. competitors, but ultimately others that will use the new drilling technology, he said. “The Saudis need this as a test run,” Moors said. They are taking some risk in doing it too. He told of seeing a new satellite field in Saudi Arabia with 22 freshly drilled wells — 18 of them injection wells to enhance production. “What that does to a reservoir can’t be good,” he said. “Their battle is not with you, it’s going to be with producers everywhere else in the world.” That’s because fundamental changes like shale gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and rapidly falling prices for solar and wind energy are changing the basic energy mix worldwide faster than anticipated, Moors said. “There’s no nation on earth that will turn down an opportunity to produce more fuel for domestic use,” Moors said. For U.S. companies, that means a future in nations with rich, underexplored reserves like Argentina and China. “We’re going to provide the expertise and technology. That’s the next big market,” he said. Over the coming year, Moors said his firm foresees continued price pressure on producers, with no room left for hedging. That probably means a credit crunch by April 2016, with more mergers, acquisitions and defaults, and small operators “going to work for someone

Diversified Communications / Ed Levy

Dr. Kent Moors was the keynote speaker on the second day of the International WorkBoat Show held in December in New Orleans.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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'Traditional analysis does not do much for us any more … For the first time in 40 years, you take the normal supply-demand and throw it out the window,' — Dr. Kent Moors else.” But at some point “these mechanisms are going to force the prices up above the market” with fewer U.S. producers, he said. Of course, Moors acknowledged, Mideast conflicts always have the potential to trump everything else. Should the civil war in Syria expand, “Then we could be talking about $110 a barrel,” he said. In the longer term, “LNG will fundamentally change energy prices worldwide,” with other natural gas-rich countries using U.S.-style technology to become import/export hubs. “We’ve developed it quickly, but more is coming.” — Kirk Moore ••• The final rule for the new federal towboat inspection regulations is expected in early 2016, but there are many things towing companies should do now to prepare, experts said at a WorkBoat Show conference seminar. “There’s a lot of very bad information about Subchapter M on the streets, a lot of misunderstanding and myths,” said Ian McVicker, towing vessel coordinator at ABS Group, Paducah, Ky. “So we must focus on education.” McVicker joined Kevin Gilheany, owner, Maritime Compliance International, to discuss some of the key aspects of the evolving rule, known as Subchapter M. The rule will require towing vessels to comply for the first time with a host of national inspection and safety rules with the aim of making the towing industry safer. There are three main parts to compliance — vessel standards, drydock exams, and a third-party safety management system. “All of those parts must 35

12/14/15 11:12 AM

••• As modern vessels get more sophisticated and electronically driven, vessel Jaime Tetrault of companies need Caterpillar Marine spoke to find efficient about the Internet of ways to process Things at the show. and organize huge amounts of data components of the maritime industry, and use it to improve efficiency, safety from ship to shore. and overall operations. “Every year, with every new boat That was the message delivered built, the amount of connectivity by Jaime Tetrault, director, product doubles,” Tetrault said. “Connectivity is support at Caterpillar Marine, at a growing rapidly. And as it becomes so WorkBoat Show conference on “The important, the question is, what are you Internet of Things Comes to the Workprepared to do with it?” boat Industry.” Tetrault said Caterpillar got into data The Internet of Things, or IoT, is far management by first watching others more than the Internet as we know it on computers or cellphones, Tetrault do it successfully. “As we looked at our business, we understood that other said. It encompasses the broad reach of companies were taking dirt and turning the interconnectivity of things, which it into the Internet of Things,” he said. includes the connections of various “They were stepping between us and our customer. Our customers had a contract with a tech company and we were becoming customers of those tech companies, and that was scary to us.” Caterpillar launched a project called CAT Connect aimed at harnessing the large amount of data surrounding its operations and using that data to help its customers improve operations. He said harnessing this data and analyzing it will help workboat companies in many ways: improving equipment managements by avoiding failures and reducing costs of maintenance; improving productivity by reducing downtime and increasing fuel efficiency; reducing unsafe conditions; and ensuring environmental compliance. “There's no reason why we can’t use a big amount of data available to improve the safety and sustainability of our vessels,” he said. By analyzing the performance of an engine, Tetrault said that a vessel owner might be able to get many more hours of service out of the equipment than what was projected by the manufacturer. Other applications of data collec®

Pamela Glass

be met by compliance,” McVicker said. In advance of the release of the final rule, companies need to study the proposed rule and prepare all components of their business to be in compliance. He said it’s unlikely that the final rule will differ much from the proposed plan. McVicker also suggested talking to a company’s partners, asking shipbuilders, for example, if they are prepared for the rule and the work that will relate to it, and make sure that the timeline for compliance is understood. There will be a two-year implementation period after the final rule is published, after that, there will be a compliance phase-in period. “The best thing that companies can do is educate themselves about the rule, or have someone go through it with them. They could also meet with the Coast Guard Towing Center of Expertise,” McVicker said. — Pamela Glass

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www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 10:03 AM

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12/10/15 11:20 AM 01.10.14 17:12

••• About a third of the U.S. workboat fleet are already using environmentally acceptable lubricants (EALs), and it’s time for all operators to be thinking about the requirements for phasing in EALs, experts with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and industry said at the WorkBoat Show. “Over time, as with a lot of our EPA regulations, people will figure out how to deal with the requirements,” said Jack Faulk, of the EPA’s office administering the Vessel General Permit (VGP) program. Part of that program that began in December 2013 is operators reporting the use of EALs in steering, hydraulic and other systems — and when they are not used, the rationale for delay and when they might be adopted after the next drydocking. “The time for reporting is banging on the door for 2015,” said Mark Miller, executive vice president with RSC BioSolutions, Charlotte, N.C., who moderated the panel on EALs. VGPs call for use of EALs in “all oil-to-sea interfaces” on vessels, and that’s brought in whole new families of lubricants: synthetic esters, poly alkylene glycols, and poly alphaolefins. “We’re dealing with different chemistries,” said Benjamin Bryant, marine market manager with Kluber Lubrication North America LP. 38

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Along with having less affect on water quality and the environment, EALs come with distinct operational advantages, such as higher viscosity indexes that mean longer life and better efficiency. But their Joe Theismann delivered the opening day keynote different properties address at the show. and best uses mean operators must educate For years, ballast water was an unpothemselves about the best applications. liced frontier of environmental protecMaintenance is critical. “EALs tend tion, blamed for introducing invasive to attract and hold water more,” said organisms like zebra mussels and green Erica Newser, chief operating officer crabs that foul U.S. waterways and with Compact Membrane Systems, compete with native fish species. Newport, Del. Newser said EALs The U.S. Court of Appeals for the tend to hold water more tightly than Second Circuit ruled Oct. 5 in favor of petroleum lubricants “which is why a the Natural Resources Defense Council maintenance system is better than tryand other environmental and wildlife ing to manage them acutely.” groups, who contended that the U.S. Dealing with the water is not a sign Environmental Protection Agency erred of bad seals but just the atmosphere’s in not imposing stricter rules on ballast effect on systems, Bryant said. “You’re water, including treatment to eliminate in a marine environment, it’s full of organisms hitching a ride into North humidity.” American waters. Many equipment manufacturers are That could bring a new revision of working hard to account for new EAL EPA and Coast Guard measures on requirements for their products. For ballast water, which now run through example, there should be no new stern 2017. tubes being produced without an EAL Ballast water regulation is a “low because there are enough compliant lubes now available, Bryant said. enforcement priority” for the Coast Other drive and control components Guard, but starting in 2018 the service will want vessel operators to begin inlike thrusters are taking longer because stalling treatment systems at their next of more complex seals, and manufacturers’ concerns to “not cause problems scheduled drydocking. For U.S. workboats, older vessels for operators down the road,” he said. can use in-tank treatments, like bleach — K. Moore and neutralizing solution, to clean ballast spaces. There are experiments ••• A U.S. court case out of the Great ongoing with caustic soda too, ReynLakes means U.S. operators need to olds said. plan now for a new set of water quality In the long range, the answer to mansafeguards. aging ballast water should not be ardu“If you don’t do anything else, get ous washing and rinsing of tanks, but your recordkeeping in order, come up “someone pushing a button” to activate with your plan. That’s what port state automated treatment systems, Reynolds control is mostly about,” Kevin Reynsaid. In the meantime, operators can olds, a marine principal with Glosten look to alternative treatments like balAssociates, Seattle, said at a session lasting with fresh water or fuel. on ballast water management at the — K. Moore WorkBoat Show. Diversified Communications / Ed Levy

tion could be used to identify potential heavy wear conditions on engines, monitor onboard alarms, improve engine fuel efficiency and identify faulty sensors. He cited a case in which Caterpillar was able to use automated analytics to identify a fuel injector issue that avoided a potential catastrophic failure. Replacement of the faulty fuel injectors improved fuel efficiency that saved $175 a day, or over $60,000 a year. “If you are not onboard, (with data analysis) your competitors will leap frog over you. They can hire better professionals onboard, have better assets, and have more cash on hand,” Tetrault said. — P. Glass

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 10:06 AM

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12/10/15 11:20 AM

Coatings

No Harm, No Foul Coatings manufacturers roll out new weapons in fight against corrosion.

By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

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otun Paints’ SeaQuantum line of self-polishing antifoulant paints dates back to 2000 and has gone through several versions. The latest is the SeaQuantum Ultra SP. Some SeaQuantum coatings are made for worldwide distribution, but the Ultra SP is “designed specifically for the North American markets, where it can cover both the slow speed and layup vessels, up to the medium-range vessels,” said Derick Hayman, marine business development director for Jotun. For Ultra SP, he defines medium-range vessels with speeds up to 20 to 25 knots. “It would work well for a coastal tug and barge fleet, for cruise boats and for the military where you have long lay-up periods,” Hayman said. Ultra SP is VOC compliant and approved by the Environmental

Protection Agency. Like SeaQuantum’s earlier versions of Ultra, SP is a silyl acrylate self-polishing antifoulant. “It was the first silyl self polishing to be approved in the U.S.,” Hayman said. SeaQuantum antifoulants work by a chemical reaction of the coating with seawater. The chemical reaction that’s produced is similar to “the old tin copolymer types of antifoulant. It mimics it but has no tin.” That produces a polishing effect that gives a predictable biocide release rate and a predictable polishing rate for the coating. At the same time, Ultra SP prevents slime buildup when a boat is tied up to a dock or moored for long periods. Hayman contrasts Ultra SP’s silyl acrylate with the “standard acrylic resin-based antifoulants that increase roughness over time dramatically and

Jotun Paints

Speed is a non-factor for new antifouling paint.

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 9:12 AM

thermal spray system. Now, after five years, almost $1 million, and adjusting the coating’s formulation to meet EPA mandates, Reintjes has EPA product registration approval for its new antifoulant thermoplastic powder coating. The Tefcite antifoulant is made up of a polar thermoplastic — Polyamide 12. It’s an antimicrobial material and copper oxide coating that prevents corrosion and cavitation. These powders are delivered with a patented thermo spray system that sends the mixture out in a high velocity gas stream where they become molten in flight and bond together. The velocity of the mixture coming out of the spray system is delivered “at a little under Mach 1,” said Weidman. Mach 1 is the speed of sound. Once on the hull, the coating forms a smooth surface and sets up in less than one minute, he said. There’s 58% cuprous oxide, or copper, in the mixture, but the leach rate is only 1 microgram per square centimeter for 24 hours, said Weidman. “That’s way under what all the state legislatures have recently adopted.” When a boat is hauled and the bottom blasted with a high-pressure water system to clean the hull, that won’t affect the antifoulant. “You can pressure wash it and not worry about the copper and biocides running out and getting into the water,” he said. Tefcite can be applied with a plasma gun or to drydocked steel boats with a thermal robotic drive module that magnetically attaches to the hull and is controlled remotely by an operator who guides the robot around the hull at 500 sq. ft. per hour. Besides being appropriate for a steel hull, Tefcite is OK to use with fiberglass. Because of the copper in the coating, a barrier coating is required for aluminum hulls. It works on both a fast and slow moving hull. The Tefcite thermoplastic powder coating is not something you buy in a five- or 50-gal. can at your local marine supply store. It takes a special thermal spray system to apply the coating. Reintjes manufactures the equipment

www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

WB_BG_Coatings_LINO.indd 41

Sherwin-Williams

will reduce the release rate of biocide over that same period because they don’t have the polishing effect.” So even though a boat doesn’t go at a particularly fast rate of speed, the antifoulant benefits of Ultra SP aren’t lost because the silyl-based antifoulant is less dependent on a boat’s movement through the water than others. That predictability enables Jotun to guarantee a vessel won’t have “more than a certain percentage of speed loss dependent on the actual operating profile of the vessel,” said Hayman. And knowing the boat’s operating profile, Jotun can build a system that provides a five-year antifouling guarantee. Much of this depends on Pathfinder, Jotun software that’s been used with earlier SeaQuantum coatings. Once an operating profile for a boat is developed, Pathfinder takes that information and provides a film thickness for an Ultra SP application to that vessel. If you took a roughness reading of the Ultra SP antifoulant coating before a vessel was launched, it might be “a hundred microns,” said Hayman. After a year’s operation, if underwater readings were taken, “you’d probably get 90 microns. That’s the whole concept, to reduce hull roughness and improve your ability to reduce fuel consumption.” “We can design the system to completely cover the antifoulant needs plus give the customer a much better fuel economy because of controlling the roughness of the hull,” Hayman said. Ultra SP works with steel hulls. For aluminum, a barrier coat is recommended before application. POWDER COATING In 1988, Larry Weidman developed an antifoulant powder coating. However, due to the cost of getting EPA product registration approval, commercialization of the coating was postponed. Then in 2007, Reintjes Marine Surface Technologies, with Weidman as vice president and chief operating officer, was founded to obtain EPA approval and develop an improved plasma

Acrylic coating can take the heat — or cold.

and the antifoulant materials, but only a boatyard or a very large fleet operation would be able to afford the nearly $300,000 for the equipment. Reintjes is currently lining up licensed contractors. TEMPERATURE NEUTRAL A new coating for a completely different application is Heat Flex 3500 from Sherwin-Williams. Instead of going on the outside of a hull, Heat Flex 3500 can be applied to piping and ductwork throughout a boat, especially in the engine room. Introduced in June, Heat Flex 3500 was originally marketed to the oil and gas industry. “Now we are moving into the marine market with the product,” said Ron Knecht, a regional market director with Sherwin-Williams. Heat Flex 3500 is an insulative acrylic coating. It’s basically an acrylicbased resin binder with microspheres as a filler. Those are small beads filled with air that give the coating its insulative properties. When applied to hot piping and ductwork it can do several things. It primarily protects workers from what would otherwise be a hot pipe (up to 350°F) by preventing burns. In cases where heat should be kept in a pipe or tank, it “blocks the flow of energy going out,” said Knecht. The same principle applies if the coating is applied to the walls of the engine room. It keeps heat from migrating into nearby spaces. If you operate in northern latitudes, Heat Flex 3500 keeps water lines from freezing. It also eliminates the need for insulation over pipes, which can trap moisture and cause corrosion. 41

12/14/15 1:21 PM

PortofCall

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www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

PortofCall

Your Source For Employment, Equipment & Services SERVICES 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

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To advertise send details to: classifieds@workboat.com or call: 1-800-842-5603 ADVERTISERS INDEX Advertiser

Page

Advertiser

Page

ABS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Marine Machining & Mfg . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Ahead Sanitation Systems Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

McDermott Light & Signal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

American VULKAN Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Metal Shark Aluminum Boats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Bass Products LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Metals USA - Plates & Shapes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Bloom Incorporated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Mitsubishi Engine North America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Commercial Marine Expo Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Duramax Marine LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV3

MTU America Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Eastern Shipbuilding Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Nabrico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Fremont Maritime Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Northern Lights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Furuno USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Omnithruster Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Great American Insurance Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Power Systems Specialists Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV2

Hamilton Marine Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

R W Fernstrum & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

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

Steel of West Virginia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Louisiana Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

WorkBoat Maintenance & Repair Conference Expo . . . 6

MAN Engines & Components Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Yanmar America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

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Selling a Boat, Vessel or Equipment? ADVERTISE IT! In WorkBoat Magazine and/or on WorkBoat.com to our over 79,000 subscribers and online readers! Reach decision makers in the only media sources that are dedicated exclusively to the U.S. workboat market.

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www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

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12/11/15 2:21 PM

LOOKS BACK JANUARY 1976

• One of the oil industry's biggest and most advanced crewboats, designed for fast shuttling of personnel and cargo to rigs as distant as 150 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico, was christened in Morgan City, La., recently. The 120' Spiel, which ushers in a new generation of faster, larger vessels serving outer continental shelf oil explorations, was built by

Swiftships Inc. for Bruce Boat Rentals, both of Morgan City. The Spiel can carry 77 passengers, 50 tons of deck cargo, 8,690 gals. of fuel, and 2,150 gals. fresh water at a steady 25 mph. • Mutual Marine Corp., St. Louis, has acquired the 56' towboat Lisa Joe from SteelShip Corp. The vessel is powered by three 12V-71 Detroit Diesels, coupled to Twin Disc 4.5:1 reduction gears. • Halter MaJANUARY 1986 rine Services,

New Orleans, has delivered another in a series of 78' offshore crew/supply boats for Tidewater Balboa Inc., a subsidiary of Tidewater Marine Services. The Goldtide has a passenger carrying capacity of 32 and deck cargo space for lightweight cargo.

• The U.S. Coast Guard has complet- Bayonne, N.J. • In January, members of the comed the installation in New York Harbor mercial boating and fishing industries of the Inogon Leading Mark, a single from all over the world will converge station, short-range optical guidance system that directs vessels safely and on New Orleans to attend the eighth anaccurately through narrow channels. nual International WorkBoat Show, The system, which had previously been Jan. 9-12. tested by the Coast Guard is now fully operative in one of the U.S.’ busiest commercial shipping lanes — the Constable Hook channel between JANUARY 1996 Staten Island and • Wisconsin may soon enact a series of laws that would radically change the way business is conducted on the state's inland waterways. A bill unanimously passed in November by the state Assembly's Natural Resources Committee would allow state inspectors to board and inspect commercial motor vessels to see if they comply with Wisconsin environmental laws. 52

WB_LooksBack_LINO.indd 52

• Swath Ocean Systems has launched a $15 million research vessel whose five decks support technology rivaling that of an interplanetary space probe. The all aluminum, 117'×53 Western Flyer splashed down near Swath’s shipyard in San Diego in December, and in less than a year will conduct its first deep-ocean mission for the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute. www.workboat.com • JANUARY 2016 • WorkBoat

12/13/15 11:21 AM

Hull of a Breakthrough in Cooling Technology. Angled TurboTunnel HeAder design Increased convergent header pressure “jets” turbulent sea water between the upper and lower tube decks.

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WB_CVRS.indd 4

EAST COAST Karl Senner, LLC. New York, NY (917)722-8118

PADUCAH SERVICE FACILITY Karl Senner, LLC. 2401 Powell Street Paducah, KY

GULF COAST HEADQUARTERS Karl Senner, LLC. 25 W. Third St. Kenner, LA (504) 469-4000

12/15/15 9:05 AM