SEPTEMBER 29, 2015 — Corn Island Shipyard Inc., Grandview, IN, faces proposed penalties of $119,700 after a March 2015 Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) inspection. The inspection was a follow-up to
Yesterday, the ship repairer was awarded a $13,705,115 modification to previously awarded contract (N00024-14-C-4412) for fiscal 2015 and 2016 ship inter-availability planning that will see it provide administration, continuous maintenance planning and program management for continuous maintenance availabilities, emergent availabilities and windows of opportunity. Work will be performed at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by August 2016. Fiscal 2015 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $9,133,057 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Today it got a a $39,144,842 modification to previously awarded contract N00024-14-C-4412 for scheduled drydocking selected restricted availability (DSRA) of USS Halsey (DDG 97). The scheduled DSRA is the opportunity in the ship’s life cycle primarily to conduct repair and alteration to systems and hull not available when the ship is waterborne. Work will again be performed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and is expected to be completed by July 2016. Fiscal 2015 operations and maintenance (Navy) funding in the amount of $39,144,842 will be obligated at time of award and will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.
Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is the contracting activity for both contracts.
The two tugs just ordered will each be powered by twin Caterpillar 3516C engines delivering 2,447 bhp at 1,600 rpm with Reintjes reduction gears turning two NautiCAN fixed pitched propellers with fixed nozzles. The vessels will also have two C7.1 Caterpillar generators for electrical service.
Deck machinery includes one TESD-34 Markey tow winch, one CEW-60 Markey electric capstan, and one Smith Berger Tow Pin.
Keels will be laid for both vessels this fall with delivery of the first vessel from the shipyard scheduled for May 2017 and the second vessel scheduled for delivery in November 2017.
The tugboats will carry an ABS loadline, and will be compliant with USCG regulationsJensen Maritime Consultants of Seattle WA, will provide the ABS Class and functional design for the tugboats. , as required at delivery.
This follows last month’s news that Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE: KMI) had agreed the four Jones Act tankers building for the shipyard’s wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary, Philly Tankers LLC.
Marathon’s buy-out of APSI’s interest in the Crowley joint venture with respect to each vessel will occur on its delivery from the shipyard. Deliveries of all four vessels are expected to occur from Q3 2015 to Q3 2016. APSI expects to recognize a pre-tax gain of approximately $10 million per vessel from the transaction.
APSI will make an investment in the vessels during their construction, but will no longer maintain the previously planned long-term investment in the vessels post-delivery, which was expected to be approximately $110 million in the aggregate.
“This transaction is an important part of AKPS’s plan to divest its shipping investments and realize the value created for shareholders,” said Kristian Rokke, Chairman of AKPS. “We are proud of what we have accomplished together with Crowley under the joint-venture and look forward to serving both Crowley and Marathon Petroleum as shipbuilders into the future.”
All four of the vessels subject to the transaction are under construction. APSI has also begun construction of the first two of four additional 50,000 dwt tankers for a subsidiary of Kinder Morgan, Inc., which are planned to be delivered between November 2016 and November 2017.
The shipyard also has contracts for two 3,600 TEU containerships for Matson Navigation Company, Inc., which are planned to be delivered in 2018.
On July 16, 2015, the company announced that it intends to change its name to Philly Shipyard by the end of the year, pending shareholder approval.
First steel for the ship was cut in October 2014 and it is now 25 percent complete.
“Week by week, we have watched the pair of Commitment Class ships begin to take shape,” said John Hourihan, senior vice president and general manager, Puerto Rico/Caribbean liner services. “It’s been incredible to watch. Once fully constructed, these new vessels will embody superior technology and construction and, while we are anxious to get them into service for our partners in Puerto Rico, we are thrilled that they are coming together on schedule.”
“The entire team at VT Halter Marine is pleased and proud to be partnered with Crowley in the construction of these magnificent ships,” said VT Halter Marine President and CEO Jack Prendergast. “It is a pleasure to see the hard work of the Crowley/Halter team come to fruition.”
The ships will be 219.5 meters long, 32.3 meters wide (beam), have a deep draft of 10 meters, and an approximate deadweight capacity of 26,500 metric tons.Cargo capacity will be approximately 2,400 TEUs (20-foot-equivalent-units), with additional space for nearly 400 vehicles in an enclosed Roll-on/Roll-off garage.
Each ship will be powered by an MAN B&W 8S70ME-GI8.2 main engine and three MAN 9L28/32DF auxiliary engines fueled by LNG.
The ship design is provided by Wärtsilä Ship Design in conjunction with Crowley subsidiary Jensen Maritime, a leading Seattle-based naval architecture and marine engineering firm.
The Commitment Class, Jones Act ships will replace Crowley’s towed triple-deck barge fleet, which has served the trade continuously and with distinction since the early 1970s. These new ships will offer customers fast ocean transit times, while accommodating the company’s diverse equipment selection and cargo handling flexibility. El Coquí and Taíno are scheduled for delivery second and fourth quarter 2017 respectively.
Designing, building and operating LNG-powered vessels is in line with Crowley’s overall EcoStewardship positioning and growth strategy. The company formed an LNG services group earlier this year to bring together the company’s extensive resources to provide LNG vessel design and construction management; transportation; product sales and distribution, and full-scale, project management solutions.
The Chandra B is named after one of owner Stephen Bragoli’s daughters and, as we reported earlier, was launched from the shipbuilder’s newly refurbished production hall using its lift dock.
Designed by Farrell & Norton Architects, the vessel has been built to USCG Subchapter D specifications and will operate in New York Harbor and New Jersey.
Main propulsion power is provided by twin Tier III Cummins Model QSL9, six-cylinder diesel engines. Each is rated at 330 hp at 1,800 rpm and each drives a 48 inch diameter, 54 inch pitch, four bladed propeller from HS Marine Propulsion viah ZF Model W325 marine hydraulic gears with a 4.91:1 reduction ratio The vessel is also equipped with a 50 hp Wesmar hydraulic bow thruster.
Access vessel particulars and equipment list HERE
The efforts provide for drawings and related technical data; design change documentation; logistics technical data; configuration management; hull, mechanical and electrical engineering; submarine safety design review; non-propulsion plant electrical system engineering; propulsion plant engineering; maintenance engineering; refit/availability technical support; on-site support; configuration change program design and installation support; configuration change program material support; submarine technical trade support; training and facility support; research and development program support; research and development submarine/submersibles support; miscellaneous special studies; temporary alteration support; modernization of submarine/submersible systems and subsystems; and affordability/cost reduction technical support.
Work will be performed in Groton, (73 percent); Bangor, WA (9 percent); Norfolk, VA (6 percent); Newport, RI (4 percent); Quonset, RI (3 percent); Kings Bay, GA (3 percent); and Pearl Harbor, HI (2 percent), and is expected to be completed by September 2017. Fiscal 2015 other procurement (Navy) funding in the amount of $300,000 will be obligated at the time of award and will not expire at the end of the fiscal year.
The Naval Sea Systems Command, Washington, DC, is the contracting activity.
“There’s no good way to do this,” the Virginian-Pilot reports Newport News Shipbuilding President Matt Mulherin as saying, adding that the swiftness of laid-off workers’ departures was largely related to the fact that the shipyard is a secure facility.”
Though the abruptness of the dismissals came as a shock, the layoffs themselves came as no great surprise.
Back in July, the shipbuilder warned workers that, as work on three major aircraft carrier projects winds down, layoffs lay ahead for both hourly paid and salaried employees. It projected that 500 jobs would go this year and another 1,500 plus in 2016.http://bit.ly/1KnifmT
In a “Dear Shibuilders” letter and accompanying FAQ, issued at that time, Mr. Mulherin said “remember that the workload valley has both a beginning and end as our workload increases again in 2017.
“”We will issue 60-day notices to all affected employees,” the workers were told. “Employees will be expected to work during the 60-day notice period.”
However, because the actual number of layoffs was kept below the 500 number, Newport News was not required to give advanced notifications and the workers separated from the company on the day they were laid off.
Seventy seven of those laid off who have the appropriate skills will have the opportunity to return to an hourly trade job.
The sister ATB tug, the Tina Pyne, is is scheduled for launch in December 2015.
The new track and dolly system was specifically developed by Engineering Heavy Service (EHS) for vessels greater than 1,000 tons. It is a development of the system that has been used successfully multiple times for transferring the Washington State Ferry 144 car ferry superstructures fabricated at Nichols Brothers on to a barge for transport to assembly with the hull.
The EHS launch system moved the ATB from the shipyard to the launch ramp. General Construction provided two floating cranes to assist in the final lifting of the vessel, shuttling it to deeper water.
The vessel was towed to Everett, WA for lightship, stability testing and fuel transfer. Following this the tug will be towed to Nichols Brothers outfitting pier in Langley, WA, located across the Puget Sound from Everett, WA, for final outfitting, dock and sea trials before its final delivery.
The new launch system significantly increases the displacement and draft of the vessels that Nichols Brothers can haul and launch in the future. Currently the shipbuilder is engineering to install ridged buoyancy tanks to the side of the launch frame, eliminating the need for the floating cranes in the future.
Munro is the company’s sixth NSC and is expected to be delivered by the end of next year.
“The National Security Cutter program is in a very mature state,” said Derek Murphy, Ingalls’ NSC program manager. “NSC 6 is the most complete ship at launch, and we accomplished this a week earlier than scheduled. Our shipbuilders continue to improve the learning curve, and the National Security Cutter program illustrates the cost savings and first-time quality that comes from serial production. Our learning curve is the best it has been on this program, and we look forward to continuing this trend on future Coast Guard ships.”
Munro was translated (transferred) via the shipyard’s rail car system to the floating dry dock one week prior to launch. The dock was moved away from the pier and then flooded to float the ship. With the assistance of tugs, Munro came off the dock Saturday morning.
“All of the folks working the translation and launch worked diligently to ensure the process was done in the most efficient manner possible, and that’s exactly what happened,” said Jason Frioux, Ingalls’ NSC 6 program integration manager. “Now our NSC 6 team will continue this effort so this ship will be ready for sea trials and delivery next year. Everything we are doing on a day-to-day basis matters because we want to ensure the men and women of the Coast Guard will have a safe and quality ship to support their homeland security missions.”
Ingalls has delivered the first five NSCs and has three more under construction, including Munro. The seventh ship, Kimball (WMSL 756), is scheduled for delivery in 2018. The eighth NSC, Midgett, will start fabrication in November.
Munro is named to honor Signalman First Class Douglas A. Munro, the Coast Guard’s sole recipient of the Medal of Honor. He was mortally wounded on Sept. 27, 1942, while evacuating a detachment of Marines on Guadalcanal.
Legend-class NSCs are the flagships of the Coast Guard’s cutter fleet. Designed to replace the 378‐foot Hamilton-class high-endurance cutters that entered service in the 1960s, they are 418 feet long with a 54-foot beam and displace 4,500 tons with a full load. They have a top speed of 28 knots, a range of 12,000 miles, an endurance of 60 days and a crew of 110.
NSCs are capable of meeting all maritime security mission needs required of the high-endurance cutter. They include an aft launch and recovery area for two rigid hull inflatable boats and a flight deck to accommodate a range of manned and unmanned rotary wing aircraft. The Legend class is the largest and most technologically advanced class of cutter in the Coast Guard, with capabilities for maritime homeland security, law enforcement, marine safety, environmental protection and national defense missions.