When it comes to new SIU-contracted vessels, Seafarers should have plenty to look forward to this year.
Based on the latest projections from the respective shipyards, at least five new Seafarers-contracted vessels plus an ATB are scheduled to launch in 2006. Those ships include NCL America’s cruise ship Pride of Hawaii, slated for a mid-April debut; Crowley’s ATB Pacific Reliance, scheduled for late March; the Matson containership Maunalei, due in June; BP Oil Shipping Company USA’s fourth Alaska-class tanker, the Alaskan Legend, set to debut mid-year; the second ship in the Lewis and Clark class, the USNS Sacagawea; and the first of 10 tankers to be built at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard for Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG). Delivery dates haven’t been specified for the latter two vessels but both are expected sometime this year.
“This type of great news should never be taken for granted,” said SIU Executive Vice President Augie Tellez. “So many things play a role in the SIU’s success—political action, doing an outstanding job aboard ship and staying on top of the latest training techniques and requirements. As always, we won’t rest on our laurels.”
The 920-foot Pride of Hawaii undoubtedly will garner the most headlines in the commercial media. It is the third ship in NCL America’s fleet and is undergoing finishing touches in a German shipyard. The Pride of Hawaii will have a passenger capacity greater than 2,100 and will be capable of a top Pride of Aloha and Pride of America on Hawaiian Island itineraries.
Crowley’s Pacific Reliance and accompanying barge 650-1 are being built at Halter Marine in Pascagoula, Miss. The tug will have 10,000 h.p. while the 580-foot barge will have a capacity of 185,000 barrels. The unit will have 14 cargo tanks, two more than the earlier generation of ATBs. Each of those tanks will have its own electronically driven cargo pump.
Members of the union’s Government Services Division will crew up the 689-foot USNS Sacagawea, part of a new class of combat logistics force vessels. The new T-AKE ships are dry cargo/ammunition vessels designed to operate independently for extended periods at sea while providing underway replenishment services. The first such ship, the USNS Lewis and Clark, was launched last year.
The Alaskan Legend will join three double-hulled sister ships in its class operated by Alaska Tanker Company. The other ships are the Alaskan Explorer, Alaskan Frontier and Alaskan Navigator. Each is 941 feet long; they have a combined capacity of 1.3 million barrels of crude oil. The vessels already in operation have been delivering cargo from Alaska to BP’s refineries in Los Angeles and Cherry Point, Wash.
OSG’s first new tanker, unnamed for now, will be 600 feet long and capable of carrying 330,000 barrels of petroleum products. Construction also has begun on the second ship in the Veteran class; it is due to launch in 2007.
Matson’s Maunalei is its fourth containership being built at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. It is approximately 700 feet long and will join sister ships Manulani, Maunawili and Manukai along with the R.J. Pfeiffer in what the company describes as an integrated weekly West Coast-Hawaii-Guam-China service.
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