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GA Ferries currently operates ten vessels.
It intends to go public, on the Athens stock exchange, this summer. Federal
ferry grants awarded
Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig said,
" Electric drive will reduce the cost, noise and maintenance
demands of how our ships are driven. More importantly, electric
drive, like other propulsion changes, will open immense opportunities
for redesigning ship architecture, reducing manpower, improving
shipboard life, reducing vulnerability and allocating a great
deal more power to Major benefits related to electric drive are derived in two areas, warfighting capability and quality of life for sailors. In terms of warfighting, this technology represents significant increases in stealth capability through signature reduction, and a large increase in available power that is seen as critical to future weapons systems that will be aboard Navy ships. Electric drive technology also represents great potential to improve the quality of life for embarked sailors. It will free up large amounts of internal space, leaving room for significant habitability improvements. The key design element of integrated power and electric drive is a single source generator for the requirements of all ship's power needs, including propulsion. One of the most attractive elements of the design is the resultant elimination of the drive shaft and reduction gears found in traditional Navy ships. The Department of the Navy decision to team DD 21 with electric drive for its propulsion comes after careful consideration among several possibilities studied by the two contractor teams involved. Secretary Danzig said also, "This
is a long sought and much desired goal. DD 21 will truly be the
first 'Smart Ship' built from the keel up. Electric drive technology
is integral to that. The warfighting and quality of life benefits
that can be derived from this will mean that our sailors can
walk aboard a ship that is unlike any other they have known...
this shift in propulsion reflects our wider efforts to change
the very culture of the Navy. With DD 21, sailors will live,
work, and fight aboard a ship that values them like never before." NASSCO
awarded $2 million for first phase of Phase I will include development of design changes, material specifications and planning for the Phase II conversion effort and will begin immediately. The ship to be converted, the USNS Soderman (T-AKR 299), will arrive at NASSCO this summer of 2000 and work is to be completed by March 1, 2001. Among other changes, the conversion includes
The Soderman is no stranger to NASSCO.
It was originally converted by the yard from a commercial containership
to a large, medium-speed, roll-on/roll-off (LMSR) vessel and
delivered to the Navy in November 1997. Funding for construction
of a new LMSR "NASSCO is gratified to have been chosen to provide the Marine Corps with the third ship for its enhanced Maritime Prepositioning Force," said Richard Vortmann, President of NASSCO. "Conversion of an existing sealift shift will add to the Marines' readiness capability much sooner than construction of a new ship." The Soderman currently carries U.S. Army
equipment, vehicles and supplies and has been strategically propositioned
near potential areas of conflict such as Bosnia and the Persian
Gulf. It will fulfill this same role for the Marine Corps, carrying
a primary cargo of vehicles, including armored personnel carriers,
tanks, tractor-trailers and high-mobility military vehicles. Drew
Marine to supply automated water treatment system for RCL newbuilding The AWT system continuously monitors boiler
water conditions and automatically doses chemical treatments
to required After automatically taking samples from the boilers and feedwater, the AWT system cools, pressure-reduces and measures them for pH, conductivity and dissolved oxygen. The system then feeds results from a local controller to dosing pumps controlling the rate of chemical injection to maintain optimal levels. The system responds promptly to variations in steam demands and water values caused by normal shipboard operations. It also sounds an alarm that warns operators to initiate immediate actions to prevent boiler failure from major problems, such as condensate contamination from leaking heat exchangers. In addition to LCD displays of system readings at the boiler and in the engine control room, alarms are sounded when conditions deviate from programmed target ranges for key parameters. An automated interface that routes alarms directly to the ship's central network is included in the system ordered for Royal Caribbean. An innovative PC Data Report Software module available with the system provides historical, trend and statistical data, which can be used with any IBM-compatible computer, typically located in the chief engineer's office. This time-saving software can also be used to generate and print out monthly log reports. Data can be easily transmitted via e-mail to the shipowner's head office. Optional system features specified for Royal Caribbean will help optimize long-term boiler protection. For example, the Dissolved Oxygen Measurement module monitors the effectiveness of treatment chemicals in removing oxygen. Measuring make-up feedwater flow, combined with hotwell-temperature monitoring, enhances control of oxygen and corrosion. In addition, the Automatic Continuous Blowdown feature controls boiler water conductivity. With timely action prompted by these features, the AWT system can pay for itself many times over by avoiding costs of chemical cleaning, repairs and, in extreme cases, equipment replacement. Drew Marine also offers the ACWT(TM) Automated Cooling Water Treatment System, providing similar automated functions and benefits for diesel engine cooling water plants.
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