It wasn’t too long ago that if you did some quick math, you could figure out that seven out of eight commercial shipbuilding dollars in the U.S. were spent at Gulf Coast shipyards. That’s no longer the case. Bankruptcy filings by Friede Goldman Halter and American Classic Voyages in combination with major orders placed with Kvaerner Philadelphia on the East Coast and NASSCO on the 
West Coast have changed things around a little.Still the underpinnings of a quick turnaround at Gulf yards may already be in place. Halter Marine’s order book could fill up quickly, once its transition to new ownership is complete, Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems’ Ingalls shipyard has restarted construction on the first AMCV cruise ship hull to make it “floatable” for possible sale.Ingalls will then be able to focus its efforts on building LPD-17 amphibious assault ships and its remaining DDG-51 destroyers for the U.S. Navy.
Its sister yard, NGSS Avondale, which will also be involved in the LPD-17 building program, holds firm contracts for one T-AKR for the MSC and three 125,000 dwt crude carriers for Polar Tankers.
SHUTTLE TANKER CONTRACT PENDING?
Alabama Shipyard also could be poised to secure the first contract for a shuttle tanker for the Gulf of Mexico. Its partnership with Conoco and Samsung Heavy Industries on the 80,000 dwt GoMAX shuttle tanker (see ML, June 2002, p.6) was characterized by maritime consultant Tim Colton at Gulf Offshore 2002 conference as “the best idea around in the U.S. shipbuilding industry.”
SOMETHING OLD, SOMETHING NEW...
If you had to characterize some of that recent activity along the Gulf Coast, you might say that it featured something old (a series of Eisenhower-era tugs undergoing a major life extension upgrade), something new (Allied Towing’s recently delivered ATB, one of several orders), something borrowed (license agreements to use Australian fast ferry design technology) and something red, white and blue (a new Army small tug christened Enduring Freedom at Orange Shipbuilding in Texas). Here’s an overview of what’s happening.
DEEPWATER UPGRADE
You can go home again. Some 20 years after being built at Alabama Dry Dock & Shipbuilding Co. (ADDSCO), the semi-submersible Atwood Hunter (ex-Diamond M Hunter) returned to the same Mobile, Ala., facility, now Atlantic Marine, for a major upgrade and refurbishment.
As a result of the upgrade, the Atwood Hunter emerged last year from Atlantic Marine, as a third generation semi-submersible with a maximum water depth of 5,000 ft and drilling depth to 30,000 ft. During four months at the yard, modifications to the Atwood Hunter included:
- New crew quarters for up to 120 people
- Removal of a 50-ton crane and replacement with a 75-ton Seatrax crane
- Upgrade of all derrick and drilling equipment and piping systems
- Replacement of 750 tons of steel
Following the upgrade, the Atwood Hunter was transported to the Mediterranean via heavy lift vessel to begin an 11 well drilling program off the coast of Egypt for Burullus Gas Co. The drilling program should take between 280 to 340 days to complete.
Under a contract with Burullus Gas, a joint operating company of the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp., BG International Ltd. and Edison International S.p.a., the Atwood Hunter will receive dayrates for the first three wells ranging from $100,000 to $110,000 and a dayrate of $90,000 for the remaining eight completion wells.
Since 1996, Atwood Oceanics has spent over $250 million upgrading its MODUs.
NEXT
