Heard @ Headquarters Archive

Paul Hall Center color guard pics (7/22)

The SIU-affiliated Paul Hall Center for Maritime Training and Education provided the color guard for the July 19 minor league baseball game between the host Bowie (Md.) Baysox and the Reading (Pa.) Phillies. Photos from some of the pre-game happenings appear below.

Representatives of the International Bargaining Forum have issued the following news release

IBF Press Release

Bargaining Forum meets in Hong Kong

Leaders of international maritime employers and unions came together for a two day meeting in Hong Kong on the July 16-17 to discuss issues outstanding from the last round of pay negotiations at the International Bargaining Forum in September 2007.

Subjects under discussion included the criteria for the designation of warlike operations areas, which provided for bonus payment to the crew, the rules under which IBF wage increases are applied and the way in which the IBF agreements can be maintained as the premier international crew contracts for JNG members. In addition there was discussion over the rules which will cover the disposal of funds collected to promote the employment of ratings from developed economy countries that were agreed in the last IBF negotiations.

Speaking at the end of the meeting, Captain Manji, the Chairman of the employers group, the Joint Negotiating Group said, “This was my first meeting as the Chairman of the JNG and I am grateful to my colleagues who provided expert advice and assistance. Many of the items for discussion were particularly sensitive and that was why they remained outstanding from last year. But we managed to make progress on many issues and we particularly welcomed the clarification received fro the ITF on the need to preserve the exclusivity of IGF agreements and on the rules dealing with the allocation of IBF wage increases.”

The ITF spokesman at the meeting, Brian Orrell, said, “This was a very successful meeting at which we dealt with issues that will have a major impact for the seafarers that are covered by IBF crew contracts. We have asked the employers to create a mechanism that will identify the high risk areas for maritime transport more effectively and in these and other areas, we have received positive recognition that the problems of seafarers are understood and will be responded to within the IBF system that we have helped to create.”

The outcome of the meeting will be reviewed and agreed at another meeting scheduled for the week of November 17, again in Hong Kong. The agreement expires in December 2009 with a new round of negotiations between the parties planned for next year.

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The U.S. Military Sealift Command on July 18 issued the following news release concerning civil service mariners aboard the USNS Grasp, a salvage and recovery ship crewed by members of the SIU Government Services Division.

USNS Grasp crew improves school building for
deaf, blind in Antigua

Civil service mariners from Military Sealift Command rescue and salvage ship USNS Grasp completed three days and more than 445 man-hours of improvement projects at the Antigua School for the Deaf and T.N. Kirnon School for the Blind Unit in Antigua yesterday.

Grasp arrived in Antigua July 4 as part of a four-month international outreach mission to the Caribbean. While the ship’s embarked team of 15 Navy divers conducted tailored training and security operations with military divers from Antigua, Dominica and St. Lucia, Grasp’s civil service mariners sought out an opportunity to do a goodwill project ashore.

“We were looking for a way to help out, and when we went to visit this school we really wanted to do something nice for the children,” said Sean P. Tortora, Grasp’s chief mate. “This project really needed to be done.”

The 60-year-old, 3,400 square foot school is attended by 18 deaf and three blind children.

Over the course of July 15-17, all 29 of Grasp’s civil service mariners and the four sailors of the ship’s military detachment spent time, most of it volunteered, working at the school. Three of the embarked Navy divers also participated.

Grasp’s crew pressure washed the building’s exterior, painted all interior and exterior walls – a surface area of more than 11,000 square feet, removed 21 55-gallon lawn bags of trash and landscaped the school’s courtyard.

“This project is important to me because I am happy when I see my students happy, and they appreciate these things,” said Natasha Frances, one of the school’s teachers.

“I would like to say thank you to the captain and crew members of USNS Grasp,” said another teacher at the school. “I believe they could have done other things like swimming or deep sea diving, but they came here.”

Grasp’s crew of 29 civil service mariners operate and navigate the ship, while about a dozen specially-trained rescue and salvage divers from the Navy Expeditionary Combat Command’s Mobile Diving and Salvage Unit Two, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Group Two and Underwater Construction Team One are aboard to conduct diving operations. Grasp also has a permanent detachment of four sailors who operate the communications suite.

Grasp’s current deployment, called Navy Diver–Global Fleet Station 2008, is directed by the U.S. Southern Command and is designed to enhance maritime security in the region.

Grasp is one of Military Sealift Command’s four 255-foot salvage and recovery ships that are able to deploy rapidly to recover objects from the sea, tow stranded vessels and provide firefighting assistance.

Military Sealift Command operates approximately 110 non-combatant, civilian-crewed ships that replenish U.S. Navy ships, chart ocean bottoms, conduct undersea surveillance, strategically preposition combat cargo at sea around the world and move military equipment and supplies used by deployed U.S. forces.

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The following was released on July 15, 2008 from the Great Lakes Group about the Great Lakes Shipyard's first foreign sale of a new tugboat.

Great Lakes Shipyard Goes Global

The Great Lakes Shipyard, an affiliate of The Great Lakes Towing Company, recently started manufacturing tugboats and barges for the marine industry in its new state-of-the-art shipyard facility in Cleveland, Ohio.

The first tugboat to be constructed in a U.S. domestic shipyard on the Great Lakes for foreign buyers was sold to Electrica S.A. of San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Central America. When delivered to Honduras in September 2008, the tug will be used in the Port of Puerto Cortes, a principal port located on the north coast of Honduras at the beginning of the Pan American Highway System connecting Honduras with other countries of Central America.

This is the first new tugboat ever built in Cleveland for foreign buyers, and it is the second new tugboat to be built in Cleveland since 1931. The first tug was completed and sold in April of this year to Tugz International L.L.C.

A new advanced “green” tug design for harbor and coastal towing, the “HandySize” Class is described by the company as being just the right size, just the right power, environmentally sound, fuel efficient and versatile enough to accomplish most tug jobs at the lowest operating cost “when bigger is too big, and smaller is more than enough.”

Designed in collaboration with Jensen Maritime, Seattle, renowned U.S. naval architects, the HandySize design fills the market niche in the 2,000-4,000 horsepower tug market for harbor work, fireboats, and construction operations as well as for coastal barge towing.

Not new to shipbuilding or to tug operations, some of The Great Lakes Group of transportation companies have been around since the turn of the 19th century and its tugs operate on all the Great Lakes, all the coasts, Puerto Rico, Hawaii and Alaska. For many years it also owned and operated a Gulf shipyard.

“There is a real market need,” said Ronald C. Rasmus, president of the Group. “Studies have shown that there are more than 1,500 U.S.-flag tugs over 30 years old in the 2,000-3,000 horsepower range that will need to be replaced over the next few years. We expect that new tug owners will seek low cost, fuel efficient and environmentally sound versatile workhorses, and our new 'HandySize' Class tug design fits those requirements.”

He added, “It will take some convincing, though, because not unlike the American use of large SUVs for commuting, tug operators have opted for larger and larger inefficient tugs to perform routine duties over the smaller more efficient tugs.”

The company expects that rising fuel costs, governmental air emission standards, and increased public environmental awareness will make the new HandySize 2,800-3,200 horsepower tugs attractive to the commercial tug market, and that tug operators will optimize horsepower and size of tug with their actual needs; choosing handysize tugs for the vast majority of routine tows and larger tugs for super-size containerships, tankers and liquid natural gas carriers or even in locations where weather and tidal conditions dictate their use.

There is no doubt that the weakened U.S. dollar was a contributory factor for the decision of these Central American buyers to look to the Great Lakes Shipyard in Cleveland to build their tug because U.S. domestic yards traditionally have had higher costs than shipyards overseas. These buyers have indicated, though, that when design, quality, timeliness and cost, including the cost of delivering the tug to its final destination were considered, Cleveland’s Great Lakes Shipyard was competitive with such international tug building centers as the Netherlands and Turkey.

In its first full year of operation in its new Cleveland facilities, the shipyard constructed one tugboat and 27 barges, employing more than 68 Northeast Ohioans, mainly, Cleveland and Cuyahoga County residents. The second tug, now sold to Honduras buyers, and a third tug are under construction. Additional firm shipyard orders now also include a sectional ferry for a Lake-of-the-Ozarks, Missouri, buyer and a truckable workboat for the State of Ohio’s Department of Natural Resources. Besides creating local jobs and a $3-$4 million dollar payroll, the company’s policy to support Cleveland and Northeast Ohio area businesses has an economic ripple effect, not only to these suppliers and vendors, but to State and local governments, which is conservatively estimated at 49 cents from every dollar of revenue the company receives.

Further-needed expansion of the Cleveland-based facility is planned for the next two years to create economic growth and new career jobs the old-fashioned way – by creating new marine manufacturing business opportunities. The Phase II Expansion includes acquisition of adjacent land; remediation and bulkheading; an excavated boat slip; a 40,000 square-foot fabricating building needed for winter construction; and the installation of a 700-ton travel lift to complement the company’s existing 300-ton drydock.

The company also believes that its success will, in no small way, be attributable to a trained and skilled local work force through community outreach and training for career jobs. Located just a short walk from the Shipyard is the Cleveland Municipal School District’s Max S. Hayes Vocational High School, a model school, whose course of instruction includes welding and diesel engine mechanic training – skills needed for a shipyard. The company, in cooperation with the Cleveland Municipal School District and the school, has developed a training program for students enrolled in the school and employs graduates. It has plans to expand its outreach programs to other city vocational schools and to Cuyahoga Community College.

More details about the availability of the HandySize tug and The Great Lakes Group of companies can be found online at www.thegreatlakesgroup.com

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Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has issued the following news release:

FIFTH PRODUCT TANKER LAUNCHED AT AKER PHILADELPHIA SHIPYARD

Tanker will be the first in the U.S. with advanced EPA Tier II compliant engines

PHILADELPHIA, PA (July 14, 2008) – Aker Philadelphia Shipyard (Oslo: AKPS), a leading U.S. commercial shipyard, launched Hull 009, the fifth in a series of 12 product tankers to be completed by the yard in 2011 and sold to American Shipping Company (Oslo: AMSC), formerly Aker American Shipping.

In the pre-dawn hours of Friday, July 11, the 46,000 dwt vessel was floated off its blocks and transferred from the Building Dock to the Outfitting Dock. While in the Outfitting Dock, testing, commissioning and onboard work will continue until the vessel embarks on sea trials, where it will be thoroughly tested prior to delivery to American Shipping Company and subsequent bareboat charter to OSG America.

Hull 009 has been modified to incorporate three improved diesel powered electrical generating sets to power the vessel’s electrical system. These diesel engines comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest Tier II requirements. When in operation these new engines will produce lower levels of pollutants such as NOx, SOx, and particulate than previous versions. The vessel’s emergency diesel generator, hydraulic power packs, and rescue and lifeboat engines have all been upgraded as well.

Newly appointed President and CEO of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Jim Miller stated, “Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is committed to protecting the environment and our nation’s waterways through our actions. We maintain a clean record of no environmental violations and have reduced the energy used by the shipyard to construct these vessels by one third. Additionally, as the only shipyard to introduce double hull product tankers to the Jones Act since 1999 we enable the employment of these safe and environmentally friendly ships in place of single hull tonnage.”

“American Shipping Company is committed to having the newest, most modern and most efficient vessels in our fleet,” said Rob Kurz, American Shipping Company President and CEO. “As our build program with Aker Philadelphia Shipyard progresses, each vessel incorporates improvements over the previous vessels.”

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is a leading U.S. commercial shipyard constructing vessels for operation in the Jones Act market. It possesses a state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility and has earned a reputation as the preferred provider of oceangoing merchant vessels with a track record of delivering quality ships.

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is a member of the Norwegian-based Aker family of global companies, leaders in global growth markets including energy technologies, energy resources, maritime technologies, seafood and marine biotechnology.

American Shipping Company (AMSC) owns and leases world-class quality vessels for operation between ports in the United States. When the current series of twelve tankers is completed in 2011, AMSC will own the most modern product tanker fleet in the United States; and it will be the first company in the United States to own shuttle tankers for use in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

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