WorkBoat May 2020

Texas Patrol Boat • Wind Service Vessels • Crew Comfort ®

IN BUSINESS ON THE COASTAL AND INLAND WATERS

MAY 2020

Double Trouble The Gulf faces depressed oil prices and Covid-19.

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MAY 2020 • VOLUME 77, NO. 5

Diamond Offshore Drilling photo

FEATURES 16 Vessel Report: Stiff Wind More vessels for offshore wind, but federal regulatory review has slowed future power projects.

28 Cover Story: Drilled Again 2020 looked promising for the offshore energy sector, then a global oil price feud and virus pandemic broke out.

BOATS & GEAR

16

22 On the Ways • Bay Weld Boats delivers 74', 120-passenger catamaran to Alaska • Gladding-Hearn building fourth Chesapeakeclass pilot boat for the Maryland Pilots • St. Louis operator accepts delivery of 1,600-hp towboat from Master Marine • New 46' water taxi for New Jersey golf club from Armstrong Marine • VT Halter awarded $40 million option to build fourth Navy auxiliary personnel lighter • Navy awards Ribcraft $43 million contract to build 48 39' mine countermeasure boats • Victory Cruise Lines plans to add fourth cruise vessel in 2022

32 Lone Star New patrol boat for Texas Parks and Wildlife was designed from the ground up for very specific missions.

36 Creature Comforts Today, a lot more thought goes into crew comfort when designing boats.

32

AT A GLANCE 8 8 9 10 11 12 12

On the Water: The Crazy Ivan — Part III. Captain’s Table: The coronavirus and making tough decisions.

Energy Level: More distress for LNG, this time from Covid-19.

WB Stock Index: WorkBoat stocks get hammered in March.

Inland Insider: Barge industry adjusts to life under a pandemic.

Insurance Watch: Hull insurance and three important terms.

Legal Talk: The Supreme Court rules on the ‘safe berth’ clause.

NEWS LOG 14 The workboat industry and the coronavirus pandemic.

14 Hornbeck Offshore to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

14 Viking says it will begin cruising the Mississippi with a new vessel in 2022.

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

DEPARTMENTS 2 6 40 47 48

Editor’s Watch Mail Bag Port of Call Advertisers Index WB Looks Back

1

IS IT TIME TO CHANGE YOUR JOB TODAY?

SEE OUR LISTINGS workboat.com/resources/jobs/

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JOB WATCH

2

Editor’sWatch

Knocked down again

A

t the International WorkBoat Show in December, some attendees said that 2020 was beginning to look promising for the offshore energy sector. Finally, Gulf oil service providers would see some relief from the downturn that had now stretched into a new decade. Then a global oil price feud and virus pandemic broke out.

In our annual offshore energy cover story that begins on page 28, Jim Redden reports that the deepwater Gulf of Mexico has been sucker punched by these developments. Now, uncertainty seems to be the only thing everyone agrees on.

“I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it (2020 activity) ... but I just don’t know right now,” Matthew Rigdon, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Houston-based OSV operator Jackson Offshore Operators, said in March. “What I would have told you then is that based on what we saw through the course of 2019, and even at the beginning of this year, activity was increasing in the deepwater.”

Now, Rigdon and others are not nearly as optimistic. This includes analyst Richard Sanchez of IHS Markit. In early April, his tone had become less sanguine.

“I’m expecting serious declines in the coming months,” he said. “Things are going to get worse for oil and gas because unrestrained oil production will fill up all of the storage, sinking oil prices to the tens ($10 bbl-$15 bbl).

It doesn’t matter if the OPEC alliance make giant cuts, all producers will have to cut production or be forced to shut in production when storage fills up. Oil demand destruction caused by

David Krapf, Editor in Chief

the coronavirus will be a long term problem for oil and gas. 2020 capex is likely to be cut even further and 2021 capex spending will be even lower.”

However, as analyst G. Allen Brooks wrote in his March 25 WorkBoat.com blog, if Covid-19 is controlled fairly quickly, global economic activity will rebound and boost oil demand in the second half of 2020.

“The steel and character of those who built the offshore business has been perpetuated in those operating it today. Tough times will be mastered by the tough people of the offshore service industry.”

dkrapf@divcom.com

WORKBOAT® (ISSN 0043-8014) is published monthly by Diversified Business Communications and Diversified Publications, 121 Free St., P.O. Box 7438, Portland, ME 04112-7438. Editorial Office: P.O. Box 1348, Mandeville, LA 70470.

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To learn more, visit RescueTheRescuers.org

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www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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Says article on Alaska ferries was ‘misleading’

I

found your article in WorkBoat’s March 2020 issue (“Icy Reception”) — although the front cover was appealing — to be misleading and misconstrued. The writer (Bruce Buls) uses sources that were questionable and the people that he talked to had other interests in mind.

We, the Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific, are the largest union of workers that comprise the Alaska Marine Highway System. We have over 600 members. It would’ve been better if you would have done your research and talked to either Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific President Marina Secchitano or Trina Arnold, regional director of the IBU Alaska Region.

Your article does shed light on

certain sectors of the Alaska Marine Highway System, but it is one sided and follows the Southeast Conference, which is highly suspect of not having our interests in mind.

I hope that in the future you will do some research when you create articles of this magnitude. I am disappointed with your magazine and will probably not read it anymore.

This article is an affront to the workers that work on (AMHS) ferries without consulting the union that represents them. Your article is invalid, extremely misleading and totally one sided.

Robb Arnold Vice Chairman Inlandboatmen’s Union of the Pacific Alaska Region Ketchikan, Alaska

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Correspondent Bruce Buls responds: Mr. Arnold seems to be laboring under the impression that the article in question was about his union and its grievances. It was not. It was about the ongoing woes of the Alaska Marine Highway System, including severe budget cuts, construction mismanagement and disruptions of service. One of those disruptions was the IBU strike last summer that shut down the entire system and stranded residents and visitors alike for 11 days during the busiest time of the year. The strike section of the article was four paragraphs, one of which quoted Robert Venables, who was critical of the shut-down. Venables is executive director of the Southeast Conference, which is a long-standing advocate for regional transportation. He’s also chairman of Alaska’s Marine Transportation Advisory Board. I wouldn’t characterize him as a “questionable” source. What is more questionable is the timing of the strike itself. Yes, the union had legitimate issues with the state, but the whole system had been recently knocked to its knees with a $45 million budget cut and was struggling to maintain service. The IBU got a new, mediated three-year deal that improved its members’ employment contract, but their gain caused a lot of public pain. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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On the Water

The Crazy Ivan — Part III

T

By Joel Milton

Joel Milton works on towing vessels.

He can be reached at joelmilton@ yahoo.com.

here are several possible variations on the basic 180° Crazy Ivan maneuver.

One day I was watching what is now essentially an extinct species: a big Bouchard Transportation conventional tug was rounding up on a huge light oil barge in New York Harbor off the Colgate Clock, in what I would describe as an exceptionally lethargic manner.

Crazy Ivans, as a rule, are usually pretty dynamic and exciting. In high winds, towing an empty, the pucker factor can be very high. But in this case the environmental conditions were unusually benign and insignificant for the location.

Not a breath of wind and dead-slack water off the Battery at Manhattan Island’s southern tip.

So, it all came down to the maneuvering of the big, heavy seagoing tug relative to the inertia of the towed barge, along with the effects of the short tow wire between them as the strain on it is reduced (and then almost eliminated) during the turn.

Captain’s Table

Covid-19 and tough decisions

A

By Capt. Alan Bernstein

Alan Bernstein, owner of BB Riverboats in Cincinnati, is a licensed master and a former president of the Passenger Vessel Association. He can be reached at 859-292-2449 or abernstein@ bbriverboats.com.

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mericans are all dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and must work together to stem the tide of this terrible virus. As business owners we also have the daunting responsibility of saving our companies and preserving jobs for our employees.

When I was in my early 20s, my father told me that we can only manage things that are in our control. I now find myself telling my children — who are now adults — the very same thing. Taking steps to help control the coronavirus is something that we can all do. It means protecting ourselves and our businesses. This requires us to make some tough decisions.

In my case these decisions center around curtailing operations, furloughing employees and protecting those that continue to work. The governor of Kentucky shut down restaurants and other businesses, which included my riverboat operation. As a result, for the first time in my life, I had to tell employees, many who have worked in my company for 30 or 40 years, that they had been furloughed. This included members of my family.

It was a tough pill to swallow.

The tug, which had just rounded the Battery from the East River, slowed to bare steerageway in the mouth of the Hudson River as it steadied up on the Colgate Clock on the New Jersey side. The barge followed, also slowing. Then the captain began a series of in-and-outs: taking the engines out of gear, then repeatedly clutching them back in for a few seconds, and back out again as the barge slowly closed on them from astern.

This slowed everything even more, as did the drag of the tow wire, surge chain and bridles through the water as the tension came off them.

Then the captain put the rudder over. In exaggerated slow motion the two vessels closed, with the angle of the tug changing in tiny increments, bit by bit, until they were alongside each other and the lines went up. It was akin to watching an improbably mismatched couple — a hippopotamus and an elephant — gracefully slow dancing through molasses. It was a thing of beauty to watch.

Then and there I decided that I would refer to any similar version of the maneuver as a “Lazy Ivan.”

I have been a member of the Passenger Vessel Association (PVA) since 1980. In those four decades, we have faced many challenges. Unfortunately, the previous challenges seem to pale in comparison to what’s going on now with the coronavirus pandemic.

To try to keep things in perspective, I speak almost every day with PVA staff and many of its members. PVA staff and board members have been working around the clock to disseminate information to members on how to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The PVA Safety and Security Committee has been gathering resources with best practices to make available to members.

In addition, PVA urged President Trump and Congress to provide emergency assistance to its members to help them survive. In a call to arms, PVA members participated in a grassroots letter writing campaign to Congress to make sure that all members of the passenger vessel industry — vessel operators, suppliers and others — were included in federal economic assistance programs.

While it is difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel, we will prevail. The U.S. maritime industry is creative and resilient. My company will survive and emerge stronger than before, and I will continue fighting. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

WORKBOAT GOM INDICATORS

Energy Level Coronavirus inflames LNG headaches

By Jim Redden, Correspondent

T

he lingering side effects of the coronavirus outbreak has further distressed liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporters that were already ailing from a saturated global market and historically low prices.

After originating in China, the world’s second largest LNG importer behind Japan, the deadly virus was spreading across the globe by late winter, trimming industrial demand and compounding a dismal pricing environment. Since the beginning of the year, Asian LNG prices have dropped nearly 50%, with March spot prices on the Platts Japan/Korea Marker (JKM) falling below the previous record low of $3.65 MMBtu, according to Jack Fusco, president and CEO of Cheniere Energy, the largest U.S. LNG exporter.

“While it’s currently too early to gauge the potential impact of the coronavirus on the near-term market balance, decreased short-term LNG demand in China is putting additional pressure on a market still working to absorb the wave of incremental supply into the market over the past two years,” Fusco told analysts in February.

Cheniere exported about 29 million tonnes of LNG last year from two terminals in Louisiana and Texas.

In its annual LNG Outlook, Royal Dutch Shell, the world’s largest trader of the super-cooled fuel, expects global demand to drop this year after increasing by 12.5% in 2019. “While we see weak market conditions today due to record new supply coming in, two successive mild winters and the coronavirus situation, we expect equilibrium to return, driven by a combination of continued demand growth and reduction in new supply coming on-stream until the mid-2020s,” said Maarten Wetselaar, Shell’s integrated gas and new energies director. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

.

JAN. '20 WTI Crude Oil 53.09 Baker Hughes Rig Count 21 IHS OSV Utilization 30.9% U.S. Oil Production (millions bpd) 13.0

FEB. '20 49.78 22 29.6% 13.1*

Sources: Baker-Hughes; WTI IHS Markit; *Estimated Price U.S. U.S.EIA Prod 1000s bopd

MAR. '20 21.03 18 29.3% 13.0*

MAR. '19 59.29 23 31.4% 12.1

GOM Rig Count Util. Rate %

GOM RIG COUNT

GOM Rig Count

30 25 20 15

3/19

3/20

10 5 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

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A major player in the LNG market, ExxonMobil agrees the market will eventually balance, though just when is another matter. “I think the LNG oversupply over time will work itself out and I think investments in that space

19-Mar Apr-19 19-May Jun-19 Jul-19 19-Aug Sep-19 Oct-19 Nov-19 Dec-19 Jan-20 20-Feb Mar-20

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9 10 11 12 13

will probably slow and eventually the demand will catch up to the supply and things will improve,” Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said on Jan. 31, before the global ramifications of the coronavirus were clear.

23 21 23 26 25 26 22 21 22 23 21 22 18

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WorkBoat Composite Index Stocks plummet in March, oil index drops 52%

T

he Workboat Composite Index had another rough month in March, plummeting over 350 points. The Index lost 19% after losing 14% in February.

Stocks in all 30 companies in the Index lost ground in March.

Among those hit the hardest were oil STOCK CHART

service companies. Tidewater stock lost half its value in March. The company and the industry is now having to deal with a double whammy — the crash in oil prices and the coronavirus pandemic.

President and CEO Quintin Kneen Source: FinancialContent Inc. www.financialcontent.com

INDEX NET COMPARISONS 2/28/20 3/31/20 CHANGE Operators 286.31 207.15 -79.16 Suppliers 3,042.19 2,521.62 -520.58 Shipyards 2,907.53 2,547.61 -359.92 WorkBoat Composite 1,876.77 1,521.56 -355.22 PHLX Oil Service Index 52.11 24.73 -27.38 Dow Jones Industrials 25,409.36 21,917.16 -3,492.20 Standard & Poors 500 2,954.22 2,584.59 -369.63 For the complete up-to-date WorkBoat Stock Index, go to: workboat.com/resources/tools/workboat-composite-index/

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PERCENT CHANGE -27.65% -17.11% -12.38% -18.93% -52.54% -13.74% -12.51%

addressed the latter in the company’s March 3 quarterly conference call with analysts.

“We have been proactively engaged with the international health and travel consultants on the outbreak,” Kneen said. “We have obtained related virus precautions to help our employees avoid any potential exposure. We continue to monitor the updates on this outbreak. Due to the nature of our business, the safety and well being of our employees has always been our highest priority and we have well established protocols on safety communications.

Our current concern is having our crews transit through high risk locations. We continue to monitor countries identified as high risk and we instructed our travel companies to avoid any crew movements through these higher-risk countries.”

— David Krapf

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Inland Insider

Barge industry adjusts to life under a pandemic

W

By Pamela Glass

Pam Glass is the Washington correspondent for WorkBoat.

hile the coronavirus has paralyzed most industries, the inland barge industry continues to operate, picking up and delivering cargoes along the nation’s rivers.

Barge lines in all sectors have launched emergency plans to keep their vessels and workers safe, restricting access to vessels, doing health checks, setting up procedures for handling sick workers, sanitizing vessels, and sending shore-side personnel home to work. Meanwhile, the Corps of Engineers has kept locks and dams operating normally.

Homeland Security released guidelines in late March to help states identify essential workers who should keep working during shutdowns, and mariners and port workers made the list.

The economic fallout appears to be affecting the barge industry in different ways. Those involved in hauling energy products and chemicals are busy

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and haven’t seen a drop in demand.

Kirby Corp., Houston, the nation’s largest tank barge operator, said in late March that demand for its inland and coastal liquid barging operations remained strong and that barge utilization rates were in the 95% range during much of that month.

Dry cargo operators face a weaker market, especially since business was already soft before the outbreak due to tariffs imposed by China on U.S. soybeans and the continued decline in U.S. coal production. These two factors were among the reasons for the bankruptcy filing of American Commercial Barge Line in February.

The coronavirus has further depressed demand for grains from big buyers like China, but there’s hope that greater demand for food imports during the pandemic will produce more demand for barges. In addition, falling oil prices due to decisions by Saudi Arabia have further pushed down the price of natural gas which competes with coal.

The entire barging economy could change dramatically in the months ahead, however, if a major recession develops and the virus continues to spread.

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www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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Insurance Watch Hull insurance and loss

H

By Chris Richmond

Chris Richmond is a licensed mariner and marine insurance agent with Allen Insurance and Financial. He can be reached at 800-439-4311 or crichmond@ allenif.com

ow does your commercial ocean marine hull insurance policy handle three important terms that refer to a loss? The terms are total loss, constructive total loss, and sue and labor.

As with everything in the ocean marine insurance world, there is a large body of law dating back centuries that establishes how these terms will apply to your vessel’s hull insurance.

What is a total loss under your ocean marine hull insurance policy? This is easy to explain. If your vessel is sunk and not salvageable, it is a total loss. Other examples include a vessel that is burnt to the waterline, a vessel sunk in very deep water (too deep to safely salvage) or a vessel hitting a ledge in a remote area that is out of the reach for a safe salvage effort.

How does a commercial ocean marine hull insurance policy handle a total loss? It pays the entire hull amount of insurance listed on the declaration page of the policy with no deductible. You read that right. The deductible will not apply in a

Legal Talk

Supreme Court rules ‘safe berth’ is a warranty

W

By John K. Fulweiler

John K. Fulweiler of Fulweiler LLC is a licensed mariner and maritime attorney. He can be reached at john@ saltwaterlaw.com or 1-800-383-MAYDAY.

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hile you were scrubbing Covid-19 off your hands, the Supreme Court issued a decision providing a clear background rule for the maritime industry.

The cast in this dispute includes an abandoned anchor, a tanker, crude oil and a subcharter agreement. The plot unfolds with the tanker approaching its berth when its hull is punctured by the anchor, oil spills, and then the owner pays for the cleanup. Things get interesting when the vessel owner spins around (shaking the subcharter agreement) and demands repayment for cleanup costs from the subcharterer.

The question for the Supreme Court was whether the “safe berth” clause was a warranty of safety or merely a duty to exercise due diligence.

That is, liability attaches once a warranty is breached and it doesn’t matter how much spit and polish effort you made not to breach. In the past, some courts held that a safe berth clause only imposed a duty of due diligence while other courts

total loss.

What about a constructive total loss? A constructive total loss is when a vessel is recovered but it is so heavily damaged that the cost to repair would exceed the amount for which the vessel is insured.

There have been some drawn-out negotiations between insurers and their clients over the constructive total loss wording in these policies. For instance, an insurer may find a shipyard that will do the repair for far less than the figure that will make the vessel a constructive total loss. If the client has a shipyard they trust who says repairs will exceed the value of the vessel, then the battle begins. My suggestion is to make sure you involve good surveyors to help determine the true nature of damage.

Now let’s look at sue and labor. This is basically a payment in excess of the hull amount insured to help the insured secure the vessel while the insurer determines the extent of damage. It’s more complicated than that, but the important part is that sue and labor is excess of the hull insurance, and it’ll usually save the client a lot of money in a constructive total loss case.

held that such language imposed a warranty of safety. If it’s a warranty, liability is imposed for an unsafe berth without regard to the care taken by the subcharterer.

Thirty pages of opinion later (including a dissent) we learn that the Supreme Court views a safe berth clause as being a warranty. The fact that the safe berth clause in the agreement didn’t include the word “warranty” wasn’t determinative. The Supreme Court explained that plain statements of material fact in a charter party are warranties, regardless of their label.

What’s important about the ruling maybe isn’t the outcome, but what the outcome should remind everyone. Maritime players can’t get lax with the documents they use in support of their transactions. All that effort to find a client, seal the deal and get paid is lost if the paperwork doesn’t reflect your intentions or understanding. Here, the parties could just define what they mean when they use the term safe berth. They can contract out of the Supreme Court’s definition and edit such a clause to refer to exercising due diligence.

A couple of well-placed words can probably make clear everyone’s obligations and avoid this kind of dispute. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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NEWS LOG Coronavirus pandemic affects the workboat industry ere are some of the latest developments on how the coronavirus pandemic was affecting parts of the maritime industry as WorkBoat’s May issue went to press in April: • The Transportation Security Administration said in late March that there were no delays in the production or issuance of TWIC cards. Applicants are encouraged to submit applications at least 60-to-90 days before a current card’s expiration, and to opt to have the new document mailed so that a trip to a public enrollment center can be avoided. While some enrollment centers have closed or are working on reduced hours, there are no immediate plans to close all locations.

• Maine Maritime Academy canceled its May 2 commencement as well as its summer training cruise onboard the TS State of Maine, scheduled to depart in May. The academy hopes to offer a shortened cruise in the summer.

• Massachusetts Maritime Academy said it is remaining in the current online/distance learning mode until May 4. If the academy needs to extend or change this status as that date nears, Rear Adm. Francis McDonald, president of MMA, will correspond directly with the community, the academy said.

• The U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y., has reported two confirmed cases of coronavirus on campus, both are employees not cadets.

• In March, there were some promising signs that a transportation infrastructure bill might still be alive on Capitol Hill. Many members of Congress were hoping that the quick passage of a stimulus bill to help the U.S. weather the pandemic would spill over into action on a stalled bill to modernize the aging transportation system.

“In order to achieve what is best for the country and American work14

Ken Hocke

H

Most workboat shipyards are open and employing Covid-19 safety measures.

ers, we need to avoid partisan objectives while allowing some of the great bipartisan work we just accomplished in the CARES Act to begin taking effect in our economy,” Rep. Sam Graves, R-Missouri, leading Republican on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said in a statement.

“Looking ahead, there is a range of directions Congress can take, and we will be ready to move forward as this process evolves. Infrastructure always has been and always will be the backbone of our economy. Congress can help provide a strong economic recovery and a strong economic future by working in partnership – not partisanship – to address America’s infrastructure needs,” Graves said.

For the Waterways Council Inc., the group hopes this might present an opportunity for more money for inland lock and dam projects. “We certainly hope and advocate hard for that,” said Deb Calhoun, WCI’s interim CEO. However, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in early April that Democrats may put any infrastructure bills on hold and instead advance another stimulus measure.

• The majority of shipyards that build workboats are operating. However, All American Marine, Bellingham, Wash., was ordered to halt production work on

NEWS BITTS HORNBECK OFFSHORE TO FILE CHAPTER 11

O

ffshore service vessel operator Hornbeck Offshore Services will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas, with lenders agreeing to refrain “from exercising certain of their rights and remedies with respect to certain defaults by the company” until April 20 while Hornbeck negotiates and finalizes a restructuring agreement, according to an SEC filing.

VIKING TO CRUISE MISSISSIPPI IN 2022

R

iver cruise behemoth Viking Cruises will start cruising the Mississippi River in August 2022 with a 450’x75’ vessel being built at a shipyard owned

by Edison Chouest Offshore, Galliano, La. The 386-passenger, five-deck Viking Mississippi will sail between New Orleans and St. Paul, Minn., the company, which has 79 vessels operating worldwide, said on April 1. Switzerland-based Viking’s plans to enter the booming U.S. market surfaced seven years ago soon after American Cruise Lines (ACL) and American Queen Steamboat Co. started regular overnight inland river cruising.

Go to workboat.com/tag/ coronavirus/ for the latest Covid-19 marine industry news.

March 26 to comply with new directives from Gov. Jay Inslee. Core managerial staff are working on essential business functions, vessel programs, and resolving any outstanding regulatory and construction issues.

“We are continually assessing both state and federal government guidelines as to our operation as they are released and will resume production work as soon as possible,” Ron Wille, business development manager, said.

— Pamela Glass and Ken Hocke

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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Wind Service Vessels Delivered in 2016 to Atlantic Wind Transfers, the Atlantic Pioneer is the first U.S.-built crew transfer vessel for the offshore wind industry.

Stiff Wind

By Kirk Moore, Contributing Editor

16

W

ork is underway on the next support vessels for the fledging U.S. offshore wind energy industry, even as federal regulatory review — and now the global economic upheaval of coronavirus — clouds the prospect of building ambitious power projects.

The 804-megawatt Vineyard Wind project in southern New England waters, leading the pack of more than a dozen proposed wind energy arrays off the East Coast, remains stalled as the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management reassesses the cumulative environmental impacts.

The agency’s final impact statement is scheduled for December 2020. In the meantime, Atlantic Wind Transfers LLC, North Kingston, R.I., the first U.S. provider of offshore services to

a wind farm, is pushing ahead with its builders at Blount Boats, Warren, R.I., to construct two more crew transfer vessels (CTVs).

Atlantic Wind Transfers President Charles Donadio — a 22-year veteran of the offshore ferry business who had Blount build the first U.S.-flag CTV — aims to be ready first when BOEM allows wind developers to proceed.

“There’s a lot of people looking to jump into the industry. Nobody in the United States has experience but us,” said Donadio, whose 70'6"×24'×4', $4 million catamaran CTV Atlantic Pioneer began serving the Block Island Wind Farm in 2016.

Donadio said lessons learned on the job with Block Island developer Deepwater Wind (since acquired by Ørsted) are being applied to the comwww.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Blount Boats

More crewboats for offshore wind, but uncertainty for bigger investments.

Deepwater Wind

ing additions to his fleet — specialized models of the Chartwell 24, with the first now under construction at Blount and expected for delivery in October.

Developed for the European wind industry, U.K.-based Chartwell Marine Ltd.’s design is modified to meet U.S. environmental regulations and operational conditions in Northeast waters.

That includes a 65' hull length to comply with federally mandated speed regulations during migration periods of the endangered northern right whale.

When construction begins on wind projects, each site is going to come with its own set of restrictions protecting whales and other species, said Donadio. “The right whale is going to be a factor every wind farm will need to deal with.”

In training its mariners, Atlantic Wind Transfers had the good fortune to work its new vessels around steel turbine foundations off Block Island for two months before tower construction

The crew of the Atlantic Pioneer had two months to train on turbine foundations at the Block Island Wind Farm site before tower construction began in summer 2016.

began.

“We already had foundations in place. To have training at the site, day in and day out, is priceless,” said Donadio. “It’s not as easy as you think. It’s not like driving a tugboat or a ferry.”

That was after a six-week fulltime training program for crew, with help from industry professionals in the

C&C

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NEW CTVS The Chartwell design being built at Blount features a hull configuration that minimizes wet deck slamming — a vice of some catamarans when they take wave impact between their hulls — and a large foredeck that eliminates

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Wind Service Vessels a step-up for technicians when they disembark onto the turbine base.

Right behind them is WindServe Marine LLC, a subsidiary of New York City-based Reinauer Group. The company is now building its first of two CTVs at Senesco Marine, close to Atlantic Wind Transfer’s terminal in North Kingston, R.I. Those vessels will first serve Ørsted’s Coastal Virginia Offshore

Wind Project, a pilot project with Dominion Energy for two 6-megawatt turbines that has a historic first as the first wind project approved for federal waters (the Block Island Wind Farm was built in Rhode Island state waters).

They will then go on to deployment to other planned Ørsted projects.

Designed by BMT, the WindServe CTVs will be a package that serves operational requirements and the right

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whale challenge.

“It’s something we’ve not come across yet in Europe as we don’t have this right whale issue,” said James Lewis, BMT project manager for specialized ship design, who led the team behind the first CTVs for Ørsted’s offshore wind developments in U.S. waters.

The need for more crew and cargo capacity, speed and comfort on CTVs “grows and grows along with the industry, from 16, 17 meters … our wind farm vessels now are up to 26 and 27 meters,” Lewis said when the design was unveiled in June 2019. The designers were looking at a similar size for the U.S. market that would have been around 85'.

“Then it comes out down the line about these seasonal closed areas for right whales,” said Lewis.

So BMT designers reverted to an earlier 20-meter hull form that could be tweaked to stay within the 65' seasonal 10 knots speed limit threshold, “and still have the power we need,” he said.

The catamarans will carry 20 passengers plus four crew, at a top speed around 28 knots, with power from four Scania engines of around 800 hp each. The designers are using Tier 3 power because compressing speed and functionality into the 20-meter hull form leaves little room for the bulk of a Tier 4 exhaust treatment system, said Lewis.

“The emphasis has always been on speed, comfort, get them out there,” said Lewis. With this design “if it’s 50 miles offshore you can get there in two hours.”

Having two engines in each hull gives “redundancy and a huge amount of power,” he said. “It can get you home safely if it loses two or even three engines.”

From their bases on Narragansett Bay, Atlantic Wind Transfers and WindServe Marine would be poised to provide their new boats as the first generation of CTVs for utility-scale offshore projects.

“After that, it’s hard to say what will happen because everything is www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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Blount Boats is building two 65' CTVs for Atlantic Wind Transfers developed by the U.K’s Chartwell Marine.

delayed because of the Vineyard Wind project” and its protracted regulatory review, said Luther Blount III, director of engineering at Blount Boats. “It’s on hold for a bit so there’s not a lot of people who will do boats on spec.”

If Vineyard Wind gets its environmental impact statement and permits to build, it would be the first in more

Ørsted

Blount Boats

Wind Service Vessels

WindServe Marine is having the first of two crew transfer vessels built at Senesco Marine in Rhode Island.

than a dozen projects lined up for federal leases off the East Coast. That could create a lot of demand in the early 2020s for boats “that haven’t been built,” Blount added.

“I think when Vineyard Wind finally gets its permits there will be at least four boats” and possibly six for the first phase, said Blount. As other projects

begin to come online, offshore services providers will be looking for 12-, 18and 24-month charters, he said.

There will inevitably be a shortage of suitable vessels, and there’s a big debate in the U.S. offshore industry over how the Gulf of Mexico OSV fleet — long underutilized since the oil price slump — might be repurposed for

WHEN WILL JONES ACT SOVS BE BUILT? n the offshore wind energy business, one of the biggest questions is when U.S. shipyards will step up and build a new generation of support vessels.

The American Bureau of Shipping and Vard Marine offered one prospect when ABS announced at the International WorkBoat Show in December that it had awarded an “approval in principle” for a Jones Act-compliant version of Vard’s 4 07 windfarm service operations vessel (SOV) — a major step up from the first generation of crew transfer vessels for U.S. wind operations.

Vard describes its 229'x58' SOV as “a suitable vessel for small wind parks in harsher environments. Despite the cost-effective and compact size, the operability is close to that of larger SOVs. This is because of the large center-mounted gangway, good motion characteristics and DP capability.”

Vessels with dynamic positioning and walk-to-work gangways will be needed for operations and maintenance if the large wind turbine arrays now envisioned by developers are built from southern New England to Virginia.

The Vard 4 07 U.S. windfarm SOV design has primary functions including accommodation, transferring up to 60 technicians to installations, and storing spare parts and tools for operations in U.S. offshore wind operations.

With longer endurance (30 days) and more accommodations than day-boat CTVs, the SOV class will be critical to operations and mainte-

20

ABS and Vard are working on a Jones Act-compliant design for a 218' wind service operations vessel.

Vard

I

nance of wind arrays, according to ABS. Vard says its design will be environmentally friendly, with a focus on low fuel consumption and ease of construction. A state-of-the-art hull form designed for all weather conditions is combined with a propulsion package for economical steaming, enhanced seakeeping abilities, and excellent station keeping performance.

“The vessel is optimized to reduce motions and accelerations in all degrees of freedom with the aim to increase operability and comfort,” according to ABS. That will be critical for maintaining technician crews at peak performance in the northwest Atlantic.

“With our track record in SOV and offshore vessel designs and ABS’ record in the offshore sector, working together to deliver this project seemed like a natural fit,” said Darren Truelock, vice president of Vard Marine’s Houston division. “We already have experience supporting yards worldwide to construct our offshore vessel designs, so it is with great enthusiasm that we now start on this exciting journey with ABS in the U.S.” — K. Moore

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Marine Emergency Response Group

offshore wind.

Blount thinks that could be a solution for the early years of U.S. wind projects, using the best OSVs with dynamic positioning systems and re-equipped with stabilized gangways — the “walkto-work” arrangement accepted in the European industry.

“When you talk to (wind energy) people in Europe they say no,” Blount added. But with an 18- to 24-month period that would be needed to build U.S.-flag vessels along the lines of the latest in Europe, adapted OSVs may work, he said.

Now the global fallout on the financial markets from the coronavirus pandemic will likely have a big effect. Renewable energy advocates and their allies in Congress failed in a late March bid to insert new aid into the coronavirus emergency stimulus spending bill, including an extension of investment and energy production tax credits for building offshore wind

Rolls-Royce’s designs for wind service operations vessels are meeting Europe’s trend toward larger, longer-endurance vessels with ‘walk-to-work’ stabilized gangways and dynamic positioning.

turbines.

Analysts at Wood Mackenzie had reported that the tax credits expiration at the end of 2020 will put wind projects at risk, and the American Wind Energy Association warned that could threaten $43 billion in investment.

OUR GREEN IS

YELLOW

For the moment, all attention is focused on the final report coming by the end of 2020 from BOEM’s review of overall environmental and maritime impacts of a new industry sprouting on the outer continental shelf.

“We’re still on a pause button,” said Donadio.

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21

CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT WORKBOAT YARDS

On TheWays

ON THE WAYS

Bay Weld Boats delivers new catamaran to Alaska A

laska’s Lynn Canal has a reputation for being particularly treacherous, especially in the winter when it’s dark much of the day. That’s now the home of the Goldbelt Seawolf.

The 74'×24' catamaran with seating for 120 was launched Sept. 10 by Bay Weld Boats in Homer, Alaska, for Goldbelt Transportation in Juneau. Late last year, the Goldbelt Seawolf started making two round trips a day, 90 minutes each way, transporting miners to the Kensington gold mine from Yankee Cove in the Juneau area.

“They unload one group and bring another group back,” said Eric Engebretsen, Bay Weld Boats general manager.

“It’s a pretty unique mission they have, transporting miners to the gold mine. It’s a remote mine, and the only way they have to get there is by boat. They have to travel 365 days a year. They never stop, no matter what the weather.”

Prior to building the Goldbelt Seawolf, Bay Weld Boats had delivered a couple of passenger vessels in the 50-foot range, but nothing as large as the Goldbelt Seawolf. When Engebretsen heard about the Goldbelt project he figured he’d 22

have a chance to compete, but first Bay Weld’s shop had to be expanded to accommodate a boat of that size. There also had to be a way to get a boat that big in the water. So Engebretsen brought in a crane company to help figure out how that could be done. Eventually it would take “every bit of reach and lifting capacity of the crane to pull it off,” he said.

The crane used is the largest in Alaska.

Bay Weld Boats landed the contract a year after the shop expanded by 4,000 sq. ft. and added a gantry crane. Bay Weld and Goldbelt then came up with the concept and Coastwise Corp. in Anchorage, Alaska, did the engineering.

Seating for the miners is spread out over two decks. The upper deck has seating for 40, while the main deck accommodates 80 miners. Engebretsen describes the seating area as fairly spacious because “the miners show up with pretty bulky gear,” which is stored in open spaces inside the entrance doors. Meals aren’t available though there is a snack bar. “This is not sightseeing. It’s basically a bus on water.”

The Goldbelt Seawolf is powered with quad Scania 700hp engines matched up with HamiltonJet 364 waterjets. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Bay Weld Boats

74’ boat hauls gold miners to and from work.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding

During sea trials the boat hit 26 knots with a full load of passengers. The waterjets were a necessity because one stretch of the Lynn Canal has very shallow water.

Extra LED lighting was installed for when much of the day is really night.

Nighttime running is also the reason the forward hull sections have extra reinforcement. “In the winter they make both runs in complete darkness. If they hit logs or debris they need the extra reinforcing,” said Engebretsen.

The Goldbelt Seawolf project’s notoriety helped bring in two more contracts for 75 footers to Bay Weld Boats before the launching, as well as seven contracts for 50'-class boats. That’s resulted in a second addition to Bay Weld’s 5,000-sq.-ft. shop. “Now there’s the capacity to build two 75 footers simultaneously,” said Engebretsen.

— Michael Crowley

The Patapsco, a Chesapeake-class pilot boat delivered to the Maryland Pilots in 2002.

Gladding-Hearn building another boat for the Maryland Pilots

G

ladding-Hearn Shipbuilding has built 22 Chesapeake-class pilot boats since 2003. The most recent is currently under construction and scheduled for a December delivery.

It will be the fourth Chesapeakeclass pilot boat the Somerset, Mass., shipyard has built for the Association

of Maryland Pilots. Two were built in 2003 and one in 2011.

The 52.6'×16.8'×4.8' Ray Hunt Design pilot boat will primarily operate out of the pilots Virginia Beach station, taking pilots to incoming ships off Cape Henry, a run of six to eight miles.

At times the pilot boat might also be at the pilots’ mid-bay station, which is halfway up Chesapeake Bay. The basic design has stayed the same over 17 years, but there are differences.

BOATBUILDING BITTS

VT Halter Marine

T Halter Marine Inc., Pascagoula, Miss., has been awarded a $40 million option to build the Navy’s fourth 269'×68.7' auxiliary personnel lighter-small (APL(S)) 67-class berthing and messing barge. The shipyard is currently building the first three APLs. In September 2018, VT Halter was awarded the initial contract to design and build two units, with options for four more. Construction on the fourth vessel is expected to be completed in the summer of 2021. The company plans to deliver the first two APLs in the third quarter of this year, with the third due to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2020. The vessels, which have 7.2' drafts, are capable of seating 228 enlisted personnel and 56 officers per meal. Each vessel is equipped with offices, classrooms, washrooms, laundry facilities, medical

Ribcraft

V

39' expeditionary mine countermeasure boat.

treatment areas, barber shop and fitness center. The Navy APLs are being fitted with mixed gender accommodation spaces for 74 officers and 537 enlisted personnel, for a total of 611 people.

Ribcraft, Marblehead, Mass., was recently awarded a five-year Navy contract worth up to $43 million to build and deliver an estimated 48 11-meter (39') expeditionary mine countermeasure boats. Ribcraft has also been providing the Navy with seven-meter (23') shipboard RIBs since 2014. The 11-meter RIBs will support explosive ordinance disposal mine counter measure platoons in both shallow and deepwater operations. To achieve this, Ribcraft will build two configurations for mine countermeasure operations — one with an open aft deck for stowage and deployment of two VT Halter will build a fourth berthing and messing barge for the Navy. combat rubber raiding craft, and the other featuring a launch,

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

23

On TheWays A new item on the boat being built will be Humphrey interceptor trim controls. Also, previous pilot boats were powered with the MTU Series 60 engines, “but those are no longer EPA approved,” said Peter Duclos president of Gladding-Hearn. In their place will be a pair of 641-hp Volvo Penta D16 Tier 3 diesels matched up with ZF5001-A gearboxes and 5-bladed Brunton nibral props.

That power package is projected to get the pilot boat to 25 knots, though Duclos said, “that’s a pretty conservative number. Probably be closer to 27 knots.” It could be a bit faster, but this design is a little heavier — by just under 1,000 lbs. — than its predecessors, due to carrying a bit more fuel and the Volvos are heavier than the MTUs. The amidships mounted wheelhouse

remains unchanged with its forward leaning windows. Inside will be five NorSap shock mitigating reclining seats, baggage racks for the pilots and two crew and cabinetry. A 12-kW Northern Lights generator will provide power for heat and air conditioning. Below in the fo’c’sle will be a porta-potty, settee, bunk, toolbox and lockers for immersion suits and safety gear.

Pilots can board a ship by going up ladders on the side of the wheelhouse that lead to a hinged boarding platform on the roof. Outside of the wheelhouse, the side decks and handrails will be heated in the winter to prevent ice buildup.

If a pilot goes in the water, he can be brought back aboard with a mechanical rescue system at the transom-located control station. — M. Crowley

Master Marine delivers 1,600-hp towboat

M

aster Marine Inc. (MMI), Bayou La Batre, Ala., recently delivered the towboat Frank Mellor to Osage Marine Services Inc., St. Louis.

The new 67'×28' vessel was designed by Entech Designs LLC, Kenner, La. The towboat is powered by a pair of Laborde Products-supplied Mitsubishi S6R2-Y3MPTAW Tier 3 engines rated at 803 hp at 1,400 rpm each. The engines are coupled to Twin Disc 5321 gears.

Steve Authement, Master Marine’s director of business development, said Osage Marine personnel were great to work with, especially “in these

Victory Cruise Lines/American Queen Steamboat Co.

BOATBUILDING BITTS guest-to-crew ratio. Onboard venues include two restaurants, an open-deck dining area, observation and lecture lounges, piano bar, library, gym, spa, swimming pool with a pool bar and jacuzzi.

Austal USA, Mobile, Ala., launched the expeditionary fast transport ship Newport (EPF 12) into the Mobile River on Feb. 20. This is the first Navy ship that Austal has launched in 2020. The 338'×93'6" Newport is one of 14 that the Navy has contracted Austal to build. The next step is sea trials and then delivery before the end of the year. The Spearhead-class EPF, a high-speed catamaran with a 13' draft, provides highpayload transport capability to U.S. combatant commanders around the world and is known as “the pickup truck” of the fleet. The ship, which is powered by four MTU 20V8000 engines that produce a speed of 35-40 knots, has built in flexibility that allows it to support potential future missions such as special operations, command and control, and primary medical operations.

recover and handling system for deployment and retrieval of an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV). The boat will have the capability to launch, recover and handle two UUVs using a single davit. Each vessel will be equipped with twin Cummins QSB-6.7 473-hp diesel engines, twin HamiltonJet 292 waterjets, and Shockwave shock mitigating seating for improved crew comfort in all conditions.

Victory Cruise Lines announced recently that it will add its fourth vessel, Ocean Discoverer, which was designed

by Sunstone Ships. Victory is operated by American Queen Steamboat Co. Currently under construction, the Ocean Discoverer will be delivered in September 2022 and will join Ocean Victory in Alaska in 2023. The shipyard building the vessel was not disclosed. The 8,500-ton, 342', 200-passenger Ocean Discoverer will be identical to the Ocean Victory and will feature 93 suites — 68 with balconies, nine with French balconies, and 16 will have panoramic windows. The vessel will carry a crew of 100 and boast a 2-to-1 24

Austal USA

New 200-passenger vessel will be delivered in 2022.

Expeditionary fast transport ship coming out of one of Austal USA’s sheds in Mobile, Ala. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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On TheWays Armstrong Marine building 46' cat for New Jersey

Master Marine photo

A

67' towboat for Osage Marine in St. Louis.

26

finishes. Donavon Marine furnished the large Bomar aluminum windows and Dales Welding and Fabricators provided the aluminum exterior doors.

Wintech International furnished a pair of 40-ton deck winches and New World Inc. supplied all of the electronics and communications. Unlimited Control & Supply provided the alarm system.

The Frank Mellor carries 10,400 gals. of fuel, 4,359 gals. potable water and 9,500 gals. ballast water. The towboat has a maximum 7'9" working draft.

The vessel has three crew staterooms for six crewman, 1-1⁄2 baths and a full galley arrangement.

— Ken Hocke

Armstrong Marine

challenging times in taking delivery of their second towboat along with obtaining all its Coast Guard certificates for their Sub M compliance.”

Laborde Products also provided two Northern Lights M65C13.2S 65-kW Tier 3 electronic controlled generators. The towboat is also outfitted with RW Fernstrum keel coolers.

A pair of Sound Propeller Services 70'×48'×7' 4-bladed stainless steel propellers provide thrust through two J&S Machine Works 7" ABS Grade 2 propeller shafts with all Thordon Bearings, Thorplas bushings and shaft seals.

RIO Controls and Hydraulic Inc. supplied the steering system for the two 7" main and four 7" flanking rudders. Gulf Coast Air & Hydraulics Inc. provided a pair of Quincy F325 reciprocating air compressors and ventilation fans.

Schuyler Maritime LLC furnished the 18"×12" rubber fendering around the entire perimeter of the vessel and push knees.

Outfitters International supplied a Daiken mini-split heat pump HVAC system in all interior spaces with Blakeney Marine handling all custom woodwork and interior

rmstrong Marine USA, Port Angeles, Wash., is building a 46'×15' planing catamaran for Jersey City, N.J.-based Liberty National Golf Club. The boat will transport passengers between North Cove Marina in New York and the private club’s dock in New Jersey.

The Liberty National I has a Coast Guard COI for 30 passengers and two crew.

“Working with Captain Ken Kreisler and General Manager Lee Smith has been a pleasure. They did their research and came to us to design a well-appointed catamaran water taxi,” Armstrong Marine sales and marketing director Charlie Crane said in a statement. “We were also pleased to collaborate with designer Teresa Francis to select high quality fit and finish options that will set Liberty National I apart.”

Main propulsion will come from twin Yamaha 425-hp outboards, while ship's service power will be the responsibility of a Northern Lights 120-kW genset.

Additional features will include an aft second station, full width walk through cabin, galley, head, and Garmin/Furuno navigation equipment.

Amenities inside the climatecontrolled cabin include flip-down golf bag storage, wrap-around bench seating, and an entertainment electronics package. A bold vinyl wrap and Lumishore underwater lighting will ensure a striking appearance on the water. — K. Hocke

30-passenger catamaran for New Jersey golf club.

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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Yank Marine Inc. was established on the Tuckahoe River in 1969 by John C. Yank Jr. Over the years, John Yank has continued to build his reputation along with his business, building more than 100 USCG certified passenger vessels, commercial fishing vessels and workboats. We have more than 50 years of experience in wood, fiberglass, steel, and aluminum construction.

We employ A.B.S. and USCG Certified welders, experienced fabricators, mechanics, electricians, painters, and woodworkers.

Telephone: +1.856.785.0100 • Email: bjyank@yankmarine.com Tuckahoe, New Jersey • Dorchester, New Jersey www.yankmarine.com

Drilled Again Stiff headwinds impede offshore recovery.

By Jim Redden, Correspondent

“I felt like I had a pretty good handle on it (2020 activity) three weeks ago, but I just don’t know right now,” Matthew Rigdon, executive vice president and chief operating officer of Houston-based OSV operator Jackson Offshore Operators, said in mid-March. “What I would have told you then is that based on what we saw through the course of 2019, and even at the beginning of this year, activity was increasing in the deepwater.”

Any such projections were moot by March 18 when oil prices for the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent benchmarks crashed to nearly 18-year lows of $20.06/ bbl and $24.52/bbl, respectively, and continued to slide the rest of the month (WTI rebounded a bit and closed at $26.95 bbl. on April 6). Unlike previous years, the exponential growth in tiebacks and the subsequently shorter time

Royal Dutch Shell

T

he offshore community, particularly offshore service vessel operators and drillers in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, entered 2020 fairly confident that a drilling recovery was in the making, only to be sucker punched early on by a demand-sapping coronavirus pandemic and a global oil price feud.

To point, just as the escalating novel coronavirus was eroding demand and thoroughly disrupting the supply chain, Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and its one-time Russia ally split over production cuts in March, promptly putting no less than 2 million bbl/d of additional crude into an already glutted market, said Norway’s Rystad Energy. The one-two punch sent oil prices on a rapidly deteriorating trajectory and effectively upended earlier forecasts of improved 2020 activity.

Shell’s Appomattox FPSO is expected to produce up to 175,000 bpd of oil equivalent in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

28

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Greater Lafourche Port Commission

horizon for first oil now makes the deepwater more susceptible to price shocks.

World oil demand was down 7% in the first quarter, and the drop is expected to double to 14% in the second quarter, according to IHS Markit.

In many cases, prices have fell to a level below production costs and government royalties, which could force operators to choke back or completely shut-in production, said Wood Mackenzie. “There is no precedent for the scale of potential shut-ins, if there is a prolonged period of low prices, for today’s asset classes,” Fraser McKay, vice president, upstream, said on March 27.

Meanwhile, the marketed utilization rate for the 758 jackups, semisubmersibles and drillships in the worldwide available fleet averaged 85.6% as of March 13, up from 79% last year, according to IHS Markit. The global high 89.6% utilization rate in the North Sea is threatened as much of Europe was on lockdown in April to try and contain Covid-19.

Aside from rock-bottom oil prices, Rystad said the pandemic alone is expected to shave some $5 billion off European oilfield service purchases, threatening the solvency of 20% of the continent’s small to midsize service and supply companies.

Workboats from Edison Chouest, Otto Candies, Harvey Gulf and other OSV operators line the waterway at the deepwater Gulf of Mexico base at Port Fourchon, La.

Rystad Energy OilMarketCube

SPENDING SLASHED Most U.S. companies are in a simi-

lar boat as operators have cut billions of dollars from their 2020 exploration and production (E&P) budgets, in what has become a tremendously fluid situation. More evidence of the growing emphasis on conserving cash came on March 18 when the latest federal lease sale in the central Gulf of Mexico attracted only $93 million in high bids. Area-wide Lease Sale 254 drew roughly half of the high bids received in last year’s sale and marked the lowest cumulative bid amount in more than four years.

After producing around 1.9 million bpd of oil in 2019, the Gulf of Mexico was on pace for record production of 2 million bpd this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administra-

A Rystad Energy OilMarketCube analysis illustrates the additional crude hitting a saturated world market as a result of the global oil production feud. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

tion (EIA). Shell’s Appomattox FPSO, which began production a year ago this month in approximately 7,400' of water, was one of eight deepwater Gulf of Mexico projects the EIA expected to begin delivering first oil in 2019.

By late March, Shell had slashed $5 billion off its 2020 capital expenditures (capex) that at last count stood at $20 billion.

No less than four deepwater developments were expected to come on line in 2020, including the BP-operated Atlantis North subsea expansion, with tiebacks to the existing platform in Green Canyon. Also, in Green Canyon, fast-track production commenced early this year on the Orlov development operated by Fieldwood Energy, among the independents taking on a larger presence in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, which was discovered in 2019.

As of March 20, the Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) had issued 10 new well drilling permits in the Gulf for water depths greater than 4,000 ft, down one from the same period last year.

According to Baker Hughes weekly data, 18 rigs were active in the federally controlled waters of the Gulf of Mexico as of April 3, down four rigs from a year ago.

By the end of 2019, most of those 29

Diamond Offshore Drilling

After undergoing surveys and technical upgrades, Diamond Offshore’s Ocean BlackHawk drillship will wrap up in the Gulf of Mexico before beginning a well-based contract for Woodside in Senegal, set to begin in early 2022.

HOT PSV MARKET? It remains unclear how the freefall in oil demand and prices, plus the coronavirus pandemic, will specifically affect the once favorable prospects for the largest (300’-plus) platform supply vessels (PSV).

“High-end tonnage (5,000-6,000 dwt) is almost at max capacity and, in fact, we’re actually seeing a tightness and a rise in day rates to over $20,000,” IHS Markit Senior Marine Analyst Richard Sanchez, said on Feb. 24.

Much of the tightness can be traced to high-end vessels deploying to the latest hot spot, Guyana. There, aside from its proximity, the water and well 30

depths are very similar to those in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, giving U.S.-flagged PSVs a decided edge, said Rigdon. “There are no vessels in the world that have the liquid mud capacity of U.S.-flagged boats, at 15,000-barrels-plus. Even the largest North Sea standard supply boats have, at most, 8,000 barrels of liquid mud

BP Plc

rigs, particularly deepwater floaters, were actually poking new holes rather than conducting workovers, completions or otherwise engaged with extending field life and increasing production, said Rigdon. “In early 2019, less than half the contracted rigs, on average, were actually drilling. That began to change by the end of 2019 and virtually all the rigs were doing true drilling, either exploration or development work,” he said.

capacity. Wells elsewhere just aren’t as deep and don’t require that much mud,” he said.

Jackson Offshore’s five PSVs are all working under renegotiated term contracts in the Gulf of Mexico, partially through 2023. With some drilling rig contracts now going for months rather than years, the situation is far different for offshore supply vessels (OSV) supporting the drilling sector.

“With the economic climate, oil companies are having shorter programs,” said Sanchez. “Before, we’d see rigs contracted for multiple years, and now we’re seeing contracts as low as three, six and nine months. When the market is slack with ample tonnage available, more (OSV) jobs are going to the spot market.”

Tidewater President and Chief Executive Officer Quintin Kneen said production support once accounted for only about half of the work for OSVs, but with the drilling downturn, now it comprises up to 70%. Echoing Sanchez, he said day rates are increasing for select vessels. “In the 300-foot class, 1,000-square-meter deck vessel, I see marked improvement in those vessels,” he told analysts on March 3, “and bidding activity is currently a step higher as well. So that market is a market that I consider is no

Safe Boats' Interceptor model has a top speed of over 55 knots.

BP’s Atlantis North subsea expansion will tie into the existing platform in the Green Canyon area of the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

BREEZY PROSPECTS FOR U.S. OFFSHORE WIND

Atlantic Wind Transfers’ 62' Atlantic Pioneer offshore wind support vessel tied up to a terminal at the Block Island Wind Farm where it has been under contract for the past four years.

Atlantic Wind Transfers

longer distressed. It’s still a difficult market, but the day rates improvements are progressing.”

New Orleans-based Harvey Gulf International Marine is among those deploying vessels outside their backyard in the Gulf of Mexico and into the international arena. Along with the recent expansion into Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Mexico, HGIM planned to send two PSVs and one fast support intervention vessel on speculation to the West Africa and Mediterranean regions in the second quarter.

“In the first quarter (2020), we deployed two vessels to Peru, which are currently operating under contract,” said CEO Shane Guidry. “We intend to further expand our footprint in West Africa, and is certainly not opposed to going back to East Africa for the right opportunities.”

With the worsening coronavirus crisis and low oil prices, Sanchez was less sanguine in early April.

“I’m expecting serious declines in the coming months,” he said. “Things are going to get worse for oil and gas because unrestrained oil production will fill up all of the storage, sinking oil prices to the tens ($10 bbl-$15 bbl). Canada and Brazil have already announced modest cuts in production.

It doesn’t matter if the OPEC alliance make giant cuts, all producers will have to cut production or be forced to shut in production when storage fills up. Oil demand destruction caused by the coronavirus will be a long term problem for oil and gas. 2020 capex is likely to be cut even further and 2021 capex spending will be even lower.”

Meanwhile, as the side effects of the pandemic and price collapse linger, Rigdon said vessel operators should begin bracing for what is shaping up to be very stormy conditions going forward.

“I don’t have any data points yet, but certainly we’re preparing for what’s going to be a slowdown. I’m certain we’re going to see demand destruction, but the question is how much demand destruction and for how long.”

D

rilling rigs are as welcome along the of new energy solutions. “The states in U.S. East Coast as a fracking crew on the region have announced very ambitious Martha’s Vineyard, but offshore wind farms targets and are backed up by firm auction pipelines for the years to come. And this are greeted with open arms.

“Offshore wind is coming and I foresee is another energy market we know very the Northeast corridor becoming the Gulf well.”

While the Upper Northwest is the early of Mexico for renewable energy,” said Charles Donadio, Jr., president of Atlan- stages of examining offshore wind prostic Wind Transfers, North Kingstown, R.I., pects, Donadio said its counterpart along which has one offshore wind support ves- the eastern seaboard has a distinctive adsel on contract at the Block Island Wind vantage. “It really comes down to where there’s wind. You’re looking at locations Farm off Rhode Island.

For now, Block Island is the only opera- where there’s traditionally a good amount tional floating wind complex in the U.S., of year-round type trade winds. The northbut the awarding of federal leases off New east is probably the windiest part of the UnitedofStates. have this wind lbs. facYork and Massachusetts promisescut more Designers the weight the RIBThey for the Navy to 3,500 tor equation and when you look down the are on the way.

Farther south, the Virginia legislature in whole East Coast, the highest wind is up February passed a bill that would double here and as you go toward Florida, it gets the state’s offshore wind target from 2,600 less and less,” he said.

Just as idled liftboats in the Gulf of MW to 5,200 MW. Leveraging its offshore experience, Nor- Mexico were mobilized in the installation wegian oil and gas giant Equinor ASA (for- of the Block Island wind farm, oppormerly Statoil) was the high bidder last July tunities, likewise, could be available for for a proposed floating wind site in federal smaller offshore service vessels outside of waters due south of Long Island, N.Y. That the conventional oil and gas market, said followed a provisional award by the Bureau IHS Markit Senior Marine Analyst Richard of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for Sanchez.

“You’re servicing an offshore wind turone of the three leases BOEM offered off bine versus a drilling rig. I don’t understand Massachusetts.

“Like Europe, the U.S. East Coast has what the difference would be,” he said.

— J. Redden high ambitions for offshore wind,” said Pal Eitrheim, Equinor executive vice president

31

Texas Patrol Boat The new patrol boat has a 33-knot top speed and a 28-knot cruising speed.

Lone Star

By Bruce Buls, Correspondent

32

C

apt. Dawson Murchison must have been a bad-ass because the new Texas patrol boat named after him certainly is.

Murchison worked as a state game warden in Texas and died in the line of duty in 1938. He was killed by a poacher “who absconded over the border into Mexico,” according to Cody Jones, an assistant commander with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD), Law Enforcement Division. Jones was also the project manager overseeing the construction of his agency’s newest and gnarliest patrol boat.

And while the original Capt. Murchison came to his end on land, his namesake is a seagoing 80'×27' aluminum catamaran designed by Teknicraft in New Zealand and built by All American Marine in Bellingham, Wash.

The new patrol boat was designed from the ground up for very specific missions, which include fisheries and boating enforcement, border patrol, search-and-rescue and disaster response.

“Rather than making changes to an existing design,

we like to start with a clean piece of paper,” said Matt Mullett, president and CEO at All American.

“It’s important to thoroughly plan our work and then work that plan.”

A good part of that planning includes upfront specifications, general arrangements drawings and materials lists. Early planning also includes close communications with Teknicraft. And because Teknicraft and All American have been working together for 20 years, the collaboration is welloiled. “Having worked so long with the designer eliminates a lot of questions and minimizes the risks for things to go south with misunderstandings and finger-pointing,” said Mullett.

With a strong working relationship between the client, designer and builder, said Mullett, “we can build a better boat in the most economical manner.”

For Jones of the TPWD, getting the Captain Murchison built “in the most economical manner” provided more than he was expecting. “Quite frankly, we were amazed at the immense value of www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

All American Marine photos

New $4.75 million patrol boat for Texas is designed for specific missions.

The boat is outfitted with a pair of 873-hp Caterpillar C18 “D” ACERT Tier 2 engines.

the boat that we got from what we were coming forward with moneywise. All American stepped up to the plate and provided a vessel well beyond what we thought we could afford.”

Jones said that the final cost was approximately $4.75 million. “When we started the project, the Trump tariffs on aluminum went into effect, and so we assumed we would have to give up on some desires, but All American came back with everything we needed and then some.”

JET-POWERED RIB Actually, the Texas game wardens got two boats. In addition to the 80-foot cat, they got a 19'6" RIB from Willard Marine with a five-cylinder, 2.4-liter diesel Volvo engine powering a HamiltonJet HJ213 waterjet. The RIB can carry six crew at 34 knots. “Having the RIB al-

The wheelhouse features wrap-around windows and three Shoxs shock-mitigating seats that face the large console.

lows us to have two vessels that can be working simultaneously,” said Jones.

The RIB is also important for rapid response, especially for boating law enforcement and maritime border patrol.

Not only is the small boat fast, it can be launched very quickly, thanks to the innovative cradle designed by Teknicraft.

The aluminum-frame cradle with rollers is suspended between the mothership hulls at the stern and is lowered and raised by hydraulic arms.

“The crew can jump in the RIB while it’s still on board, and it gets dropped down in the water in a matter of 20 or 30 seconds,” said Nic de Waal at Teknicraft. Then it also can be retrieved while the big boat is underway. “They literally drive right into the cradle,” said de Waal, “then someone pushes a button and the hydraulics lifts the cradle and RIB out of the water. In about 30

A stern-launched 19'6" RIB from Willard Marine can carry six crew at 34 knots.

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

seconds the boat and crew are safely secured.”

Compared to a davit system, the cradle is much easier, faster and safer.

This is the first hydraulic cradle of its kind in North America, although it’s been installed on several boats in New Zealand.

The catamaran mothership is nearly as fast as the RIB, with a 33-knot top speed and a 28-knot cruising speed, thanks to a hydrofoil, twin 873-hp Caterpillar engines and HamiltonJet HM521 waterjets. “The foil creates lift, which reduces wetted area and reduces drag,” said de Waal. At the same time, the twin hulls feature semi-round bilges for good seakeeping and a soft ride.

Another distinctive feature of the Captain Murchison’s hull design is extended bows with a very fine entry.

Teknicraft calls this a “sickle bow.” The finely shaped, piercing bow extensions provide a number of advantages. With little freeboard, the hull extensions reduce vertical accelerations and pitching motions in choppy seas. The extended hull length also reduces rolling motions in quartering seas and improves straight tracking in following seas. And with reduced pitching, the hydrofoil’s angle of attack remains more constant, which helps maintain speed and reduces fuel consumption.

At cruising speeds in calm seas, the bows are lifted out of the water, but at displacement speeds the submerged bows lengthen the waterline, which increases speed and extends range.

And they look cool, especially 33

Texas Patrol Boat painted black.

Directly above the sickle bows on the Captain Murchison, a heavy-duty set of push knees enables the boat to be pushed against the side or stern of another vessel for boarding access, deck to deck.

Another noteworthy innovation on the new boat is the AVX vessel control system from HamiltonJet. This is Hamilton’s newest-generation control system with multiple modes and modular stations. The Captain Murchison is the first boat in the U.S. to have one. The system features a “mouseboat,” which is a three-axis controller for low-speed maneuvering and docking. Another feature is the JETanchor, which combines automatic vessel position and heading control, and the ability to hold a vessel on a fixed point.

Jones said the AVX permits the boat to hold position so “the captain can step out and monitor our activities, like holding position while the crew secures a long-line in preparation to pulling it in,” said Jones. “It’s absolutely perfect for this vessel,” said de Waal.

SEVERAL MISSIONS The Texas game wardens occasionally encounter illegal fishing longlines in the Gulf of Mexico and pull them aboard when they do. They used to do that by hand, which was quite a chore considering the miles of illegal gear sometimes found. The new boat is equipped with a powered reel on the bow that will relieve the crew of all that manual labor.

And when the reel isn’t needed, the foundation can be used to mount an M240B machine gun. Jones said the gun “is pivotal to our mission space that we share with the Coast Guard for high-value assets that are coming into our state ports.”

The Texas game wardens also patrol maritime borders, both state and federal (out to 200 miles) and must be prepared to interdict smugglers of both narcotics and humans.

Responding to natural disasters is another part of the game wardens’ “missions space.” In the aftermath of 34

CAPTAIN MURCHISON Builder: All American Marine Designer: Teknicraft Owner: Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Mission: Fisheries and boating law enforcement, maritime border patrol Length: 80' Beam: 27' Draft: 38" Main Propulsion: (2) Caterpillar C18 “D” ACERT Tier 2, 873 hp Ship’s Service Power: (2) Northern Lights M864W3, 25 kW

a hurricane, for instance, the wardens can be first responders to islands that can’t be reached and supplied any other way. For this mission, the deck at the stern is fitted with an interlocking bolt system for securing cargo such as food, water or medical supplies. “We can carry a heavy amount of gear and multiple people,” said Jones.

The game wardens will also use the new boat for search-and-rescue missions coordinated by the Coast Guard and facilitated by a Raymarine Axiom Pro system. “The Coast Guard can drop in search patterns directly on our chartplotters,” said Jones. “So, if they send us out on an expanding-square search, they can watch us track those lines.”

The chartplotter and all the other electronics are installed in a wheelhouse with wrap-around windows and

SPECIFICATIONS

Waterjet: (2) HamiltonJet HM 521 Controls: HamiltonJet AVX control system Speed (knots): 28, cruise; 33, top Hull Construction: Aluminum Crew/Passenger Capacity: 6 Fuel Capacity: 1,850 gals.

Ancillary Equipment/Systems: Rapid RIB deployment cradle, Shoxs shock-mitigating seats Classification/Certification: U.S. Coast Guard Subchapter T Delivery Date: March 2020

three Shoxs shock-mitigating seats facing the large console. Sliding doors on both sides provide access to the walk-around upper deck with stairs down to the bow.

With patrols going out as far as 200 miles, the new boat is equipped with six bunks in three staterooms, and a head with shower. A full galley with stove, microwave and refrigerator/ freezer provides space for cooking during the up-to-seven-day cruises.

The adjacent lounge area has L-shaped seating around a large table and two pedestal-mounted loungers for eating, reading or relaxing.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about being comfortable and ready to undertake your mission,” said Jones. “It’s also a very robust vessel and a stable platform with a smooth ride. It’s a game changer.” www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

Dear reader, These are tough times, not only for the commercial marine industry but for the entire country and world as we enter uncharted waters as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Here at WorkBoat and WorkBoat.com, our goal is to continue to provide you with timely updates from all sectors and regions of the commercial marine industry on how Covid-19 is affecting business and vessel operations. We want to help you steer through these uncertain times by being your go-to source for this information.

Our editors update WorkBoat.com daily with breaking news on the coronavirus and other developments in the commercial marine industry.

Don’t forget to follow us on social media and sign up for our newsletter on WorkBoat.com for the latest updates.

Also, we ask that you help keep us informed by alerting us to any news we may miss that is valuable to vessel operators and their crews.

Drop me a line at dkrapf@divcom.com.

David Krapf Editor in Chief WorkBoat www.workboat.com

@WorkBoat

workboat.com / workboatshow.com Produced by

Crew Comfort

Creature Comforts

By Michael Crowley, Correspondent

36

Y

ears ago, when an operator decided to design and build a new workboat, there usually wasn’t much thought put into crew comforts. A bunk, a galley, a head — sometimes a bucket or over the rail — was enough. If someone didn’t like it he might quit. That was OK because it wasn’t hard to find a replacement, since guys moved around a lot back then.

Bob Pelletier at Blount Boats in Warren, R.I., remembers a boat the shipyard built where the crew would practically be “sleeping on top of each other” because there was so little room. That changed around 2006 when Nancy Blount took over the company, and “she decommissioned passenger cabins and gave them to the crew. Then the crew got to spread out.”

These days crews generally have some personal space and maybe amenities such as a shower, TV and Wi-Fi. But in comfort terms, there’s still a long way to go, both for those working on the

The 55-foot Hampton Roads, a Chesapeake-class MKII for the Virginia Pilot’s Association.

boats and the industry.

Crew comfort “definitely remains an issue, especially for the U.S. fleet,” said Jonathan Parrott of Jensen Maritime in Seattle. That’s because “the number of millennials that want to go to sea is dropping. It’s just not there to support the industry. They are going to need creature comforts.”

On boats that aren’t liveaboards, such as some fire and rescue, law enforcement and military patrol boats, improving crew comfort often means taking “a hard look at ergonomics,” said David Hunt with Silver Ships in Theodore, Ala. Take the leaning post in a Silver Ships center console boat, which, until about a year ago, had been “essentially just a box you could scooch up on if you needed to, but it wasn’t meant to be anything www.workboat.com • FEBRUARY 2020 • WorkBoat

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding

For crews, today’s boats offer more room and more amenities.

Silver Ships

When stowed, the cushions in the leaning post in a Silver Ships center console boat have a cushion on the bottom to lean against (seat on left) or you can sit on them (seat on right).

Both have the Skydex cushion insert.

comfortable.”

Now that leaning post design has been embellished with the option of having a flip-down seat. “You can flip it up and it functions as a leaning post,” said Hunt. Flip it out and someone “can sit down and not have to be standing the entire time they are operating.” He said Silver Ships often does it with center consoles in the 26' to 32' range, RIB or non-RIB. It’s now a standard design feature. Put a Skydex seat cushion insert inside the seat’s cushion and you get extra shockmitigation protection. The cushion is normally closed-cell foam, while the

seat cushion insert is basically plastic bubbles, so when the boat slams down off the top of a wave, “your deceleration is a little more elegant,” said Hunt.

OTHER AMENITIES Something not related to the operation of a boat but has proved popular is the placement of cup holders. It’s “actually a big deal,” said Hunt, and now “cup holders are standard on all vessels in spaces occupied by crewmembers.” Things like this, he said, “makes life a little bit nicer.”

For a lot of boats, especially smaller boats that are tight on available space,

it’s not possible to increase the size of crew cabins and so the focus turns to “improving the amenities,” said Brian King with Elliott Bay Design Group (EBDG) in Seattle. “That’s what we try to do.” That means “light, bright surfaces, good lighting and comfortable,” plus a focus on noise isolation and reduction, especially structurally transmitted noise. King said the big three sources of noise reduction are engine, propeller and ventilation noise.

The propeller pulse, he noted, “transmits itself through structures and gets in all kinds of annoying places.”

To isolate that vibration noise, EBDG has been using more resilient mounts on engines, instead of hard mounting equipment.

HVAC machinery is another source of noise that King said deserves close attention. Installing individual temperature controls in cabins is one way to reduce cabin noise, as is running the air at lower speeds through the ducting. “We pay more attention to the flow disturbance, so it reduces the noise in the cabins.”

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding, Somerset, Mass., has “always leaned towards stiff engine mounts,” but is now going with softer engine mounts, said Peter Duclos, the shipyard’s president. “In the last year or two some of the mounts have gotten quite good. They are more robust and isolate engine vibrations over a wider range of frequencies.”

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37

Engine mounts in a Gladding-Hearn pilot boat have to be very durable.

“Remember pilot boats are crashing into a ship for a living,” said Duclos.

“That’s what they do.”

Though pilot boats do break mounts from time to time, he feels that the newer softer mounts are robust enough to take the abuse.

Mounts of a much larger size went into the 70'6"×24'4" crew transfer vessel Atlantic Pioneer, built by Blount Boats in 2016 for Atlantic Wind Transfers. The CTV, the first built in the U.S., was designed to take 12 wind farm technicians on a 90-minute ride out to an offshore wind farm tower.

The cabin for the technicians was designed as a separate structure and mounted on heavy I-beams that were bolted to what Pelletier described as “12 huge isolation mounts” that had been bolted to the deck. “It was the first time we had done anything like

Blount Boats

Crew Comfort

The cabin for the technicians on the Atlantic Pioneer CTV was designed as a separate structure and mounted on heavy I-beams that were bolted to 12 huge isolation mounts that were bolted to the deck.

that. You could almost whisper to the guy across the way from you.” It was also very quiet in the wheelhouse: “70

decibels while under full power.”

Another tool in the struggle to make vessels more comfortable is a

SAFETY AND CREW COMFORT GO TOGETHER n aspect of working on a boat that is not usually on the improved comfort wish list is safety. But safety and crew (and passenger) comfort are almost synonymous to Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding’s Peter Duclos, especially when he’s talking about putting pilots aboard a pilot boat that his shipyard built to go out to board an incoming ship.

Operators of pilot boats “spend a lot of money on very high-end seats,” he said. That’s not because they want to be comfortable “like sitting in your living room comfortable — for them comfortable is (being) safe.”

On the trip out to an incoming ship, a pilot doesn’t want to worry about being so beat up and stressed out that by the time he gets to the ship he can’t do his job. He doesn’t want to think about being thrown onto the deck or straining his back when the pilot boat slams into a wave. “When I think of crew comfort that’s what I think of,” said Duclos.

Crew comfort, as another name for safety, has increasingly become more of an issue for pilot boat operators as the boats have gotten more powerful and faster. “There’s the potential for pretty hard landings if the operator gets distracted and doesn’t pull back at the right moment,” noted Duclos.

Also helping to make the passage out to an incoming ship easier on pilots as well as the operators of the pilot boat, is the employment of anti-fatigue mats over the deck. Generally, this is thick

38

Pilot boat operators spend a lot of money on high-end seats.

Gladding-Hearn Shipbuilding

A

foam that’s under a mat or carpet. “It takes the edge off,” Duclos said. “It’s easier on the knees, easier on the ankles and the noise level.” — M. Crowley

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

heavy-duty coating designed to reduce airborne structural noise and dampen vibrations, while at the same time having some heat-insulating qualities.

Mascoat’s Sound Control-dB is an acrylic spray application coating that can be applied to a vessel’s walls, stiffeners, piping, basically any surface on a boat. Jensen Maritime first used the coating on Seattle fireboats several years ago and now “it’s pretty much specified on all our boats,” said Parrott. He estimates it is two to three times the thickness of regular paint.

FUTURE COMFORTS? Looking to the future, a technology that is not mainstream yet is noise cancellation technology, often called white noise, EBDG’s King said. It is used to counterphase noise frequencies. A microphone picks up a sound frequency and produces a counterphase to that noise, essentially neutral-

izing it.

“It’s employed in some areas but I haven’t seen it done on tugs or workboats,” King said.

Something else that hasn’t made it into the workboat market yet is designed to improve a boat’s comfort level by reducing its rolling motion.

This would improve the comfort level from, in some cases, downright sickening or hazardous to at least bearable if not comfortable. That’s the gyro stabilizer, which generates a stabilizing torque to oppose a boat’s wave induced rolling motion. They have been used with some success in yachts.

Can a gyro stabilizer give a workboat a comfort motion? Parrott said Jensen Maritime investigated the use of gyro stabilizers for some workboats but so far haven’t added them to any of their designs. It especially doesn’t seem to be a good match for a boat that employs a crane off its side for an

extended period.

“The boat has a tendency to heel to that side,” Parrott said, and the gyro stabilizer eventually settles into that heel angle. “When you bring the crane aboard, it takes awhile for the boat to settle to zero heel. So, there might be issues with a gyro stabilizer.”

Solving that glitch would make life on a workboat a lot more comfortable.

At the end of the day, enhancing crew comfort is all about making daily life on a workboat acceptable, instead of an impetus to find another occupation, preferably land based.

King echoes Parrott’s sentiments when he emphasizes that “it’s absolutely true we have to make life at sea on a workboat more attractive to new generations of people. There are too many alternative, desirable ways to be employed without having to go to sea and put up with a lot of additional uncomfort and noise.”

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39

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ADVERTISERS INDEX Ahead Sanitation Systems Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 BAE Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 C & C Marine and Repair LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Capital Bedding Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

MB Brokerage Co. | MB Barge Co. | BG Fleeting

Conrad Shipyard, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Winches | Barges | Boats Cranes | Vessel Charters & Storage

David Clark Company Inc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Imtra Corp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 International WorkBoat Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Karl Senner, LLC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CV4 Louisiana Cat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Lubriplate Lubricants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 McDermott Light & Signal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Mitsubishi Turbocharger and Engine America, Inc . . . . 13 Motor-Services Hugo Stamp Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Go to:

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Research Products/Incinolet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 R M Young Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 R W Fernstrum & Company . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Subsalve USA Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Tandemloc, Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Yank Marine Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

47

LOOKS BACK MAY 1960

• The cold fact that the St. Lawrence Seaway is unusable for at least four months each year because of ice didn’t pass without Congressional notice.

Pennsylvania Congressman Paul B. Dague took occasion to insert in the Congressional Record an editorial from a Philadelphia newspaper, commenting on the fact that in 1959 the Seaway handled 20 mil-

lion tons of cargo, or about one fifth the tonnage handled on the Delaware River in the same year.

• A new 75', all-welded steel tug was placed in service towing a 1,000ton construction materials barge to Grand Bahama Island, British West Indies, recently by Diamond Construction Co., Savannah, Ga. The Frank Jackson is the 35th self-propelled vessel MAY 1970 built by • Marine Resources Inc., a Rochester, N.Y-based oceanographic company, recently announced a new concept in unmanned, under-ice petroleum exploration. At an Arctic symposium in Calgary, F. Robert Hill, vice president of marine resources, outlined the company’s advanced development of a submersible vehicle for seismic exploration under Canadian ice fields.

• The famous Red MAY 1980 Stack fleet,

• When Bruce Boat Rentals, Gibson, La., contracted with Swiftships, Morgan City, La., to build a new 120' crewboat for its growing fleet, it didn’t leave anything to chance when it came to the propulsion package and the vessel’s speed. The new crewboat zips through the water at 23 knots thanks to three MTU 8V331-TC71 main engines, 48

Diamond Manufacturing, also of Savannah, since 1952, and the largest tug completed by the yard to date. The ABS-classed vessel has a draft of 8'6" and displacement of 170 tons.

Puget Sound Tug and Barge Company of San Francisco, is preparing to do battle on the booming Alaska North Slope. One of its main weapons is the new 136' tug Guardian.

producing 800 hp each. The Chance is the 16th crewboat added to Bruce Boat’s fleet.

• Tidewater Inc. has reported record consolidated net earnings, up 33.8% to $10 million for the third fiscal quarter ended Dec. 31, 1979. This compares to $7.5 million during the third quarter the previous year. www.workboat.com • MAY 2020 • WorkBoat

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p: 440.834.5400 f: 800.497.9283

At a time of great turbulence and uncertainty with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its reverberations throughout our industry, we sincerely wish the best to all businesses, employees, and families.

In keeping with our commitment to provide the highest level of support to our customers, Karl Senner, LLC continues to operate as close to normalcy as possible within CDC guidelines.

We remain by your side.

504-469-4000

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