December 2016
General Dynamics NASSCO shipbuilders recently delivered the Constitution, a Jones Actqualified ECO Class tanker, to SEA-Vista LLC. The ship will be crewed by SIU mariners and is operated by Seabulk Tankers.
The Constitution is a 610-foot-long, 50,000 deadweight- ton, LNG-conversionready product tanker with a 330,000-barrel cargo capacity. The new ECO Class design symbolizes the emerging direction of the shipping industry in the United States toward cleaner, more fuel-efficient modes of transporting product. Construction on the ship began in June 2015, and it was christened in a ceremony on August 27, 2016. SIU Vice President Contracts George Tricker and Vice President West Coast Nick Marrone attended the christening.
As part of an eight-ship program for two separate customers, the Constitution is the sixth ECO Class tanker built by NASSCO to recently join the Jones Act trade. According to the shipyard, the design provides “a very significant improvement in fuel efficiency.”
“With this program we contracted with two customers seeking similar capabilities. A steady production run of eight ships improves hull-to-hull learning and has allowed us to deliver increasingly higher-quality, world-class vessels,” said Kevin Graney, vice president and general manager for General Dynamics NASSCO.
The Jones Act requires that ships carrying cargo between U.S. ports be built in U.S. shipyards and crewed by U.S. mariners. The Jones Act is responsible for more than 500,000 good-paying jobs nationwide.
NASSCO, a union facility, is the only major shipyard on the West Coast of the United States conducting design, construction and repair of commercial and U.S. Navy ships. For its commercial work, NASSCO partners with South Korean shipbuilding power, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME), for access to state-of-the-art ship design and shipbuilding technologies.
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