Hornbeck awards Bollinger Shipyards six OSV conversions
Hornbeck Offshore Services has awarded Bollinger Shipyards Inc. a contract to convert six 200-class DP1 offshore supply vessels to 240-class DP2 OSVs.
Built in 1999 and 2000, the vessels to be converted were acquired by Hornbeck in 2007. The planned 40-foot mid-body extensions and dynamic positioning upgrades will bring each vessel’s capacity up to approximately 2,850 tons of deadweight and roughly double their liquid mud-carrying capacity to approximately 8,000 barrels.
The length of each vessel is currently at 200 feet and once the conversion is complete, each will be 240 feet.
The news of the conversion program was announced by Hornbeck on Sept. 4. The designated vessels for the program are six of Hornbeck’s 10 Super 200-class DP1 units, four of which recently completed two-year charters with Petrobras in Brazil.
In order to meet the aggressive delivery schedule required by Hornbeck, Bollinger will carry out the conversions at two separate Bollinger facilities, Bollinger Larose and Bollinger Morgan City. Both facilities have longstanding business relationships with Hornbeck and have serviced the super 200s for regulatory and routine maintenance over the years.
Hornbeck Offshore Services exercises options for two more OSVs from Eastern Shipbuilding
Eastern Shipbuilding Group has announced that Hornbeck Offshore Services has exercised options for two additional 302HOSMAX310 Offshore Support Vessels. Eastern is now under contract to construct 10 of these 302-foot-long OSVs for Hornbeck. The two additional vessels are being built to the STX SV310 design from STX Marine.
These DP2 diesel-electric vessels have twin z-drives. The high-tech vessels feature four CAT 3516C 16-cylinder turbo-charged Tier III diesel generator engines that are rated 1,825 kW at 1,800 rpm.
Main propulsion power is provided by two Hyundai 2,500-kW 690VAC motors driving two Schottel SRP 2020 FP z-drives with nozzles rated at 2,500 kW at 1,025 rpm each, for a total of 6,704 hp. Schottel also provides two STT 4 fixed-pitch tunnel thrusters rated at 1,180 kW at 1,170 rpm, each with direct-coupled Hyundai 690VAC electric motors.
GE Energy provides the complete system integrated diesel electric package, including the propulsion and thruster drives, motors, control systems, dynamic positioning system, switchboards, motor control centers, automation and navigation/communication electronics.
The vessels will have a maximum speed of 14 knots with a cruising speed of 12 knots.
The total below-deck capacities of the HOSMAX310 include 285,645 gallons of diesel fuel, 610,137 gallons of drill/ballast water, 21,509 barrels of liquid mud, 14,347 cubic feet of dry-bulk mud, 2,212 barrels of methanol and 62,538 gallons of potable water.
General Dynamics Nassco delivers USNS Cesar Chavez
General Dynamics Nassco delivered USNS Cesar Chavez (T-AKE 14) to the U.S. Navy on Oct. 24, marking the completion of a highly successful U.S. shipbuilding program that has spanned more than a decade.
USNS Cesar Chavez is the 14th and final ship of the T-AKE class of dry cargo-ammunition ships built by General Dynamics Nassco for the U.S. Navy. Nassco began constructing the 689-foot-long ship in October 2010, incorporating international marine technologies and commercial ship-design features, to minimize operating costs over its projected 40-year service life.
T-AKE 14 is an auxiliary ship equipped to fulfill a variety of global combat logistics requirements. With a cargo capacity of more than 10,000 tons, the primary mission of USNS Cesar Chavez will be to deliver food, ammunition, fuel and other provisions from shore stations to combat ships at sea.
AKER Philadelphia holds keel laying ceremony for first of two tankers
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Inc. held a ceremonial keel laying on Oct. 17 for the first of two Aframax tankers that it is building for SeaRiver Maritime Inc., Exxon Mobil Corp.’s U.S. marine affiliate.
The construction of the two tankers, valued at $400 million, will create more than 1,000 jobs. When completed in 2014, the Liberty-class vessels will be 820 feet long and be capable of carrying 115,000 tons of crude oil. The tankers are intended to be used to transport Alaskan North Slope crude oil from Prince William Sound to the U.S. West Coast.
Kristian Rokke, president and CEO of Aker Philadelphia, said, “This is an important milestone, rich in tradition that excites the shipbuilder in each of us. Together, we are part of something special — constructing another quality vessel born here in Philadelphia that will serve the needs of our customer and the U.S. Jones Act market for decades to come.”
Since its inception in 1998, the shipyard has delivered 177 vessels for operation in the Jones Act market. In addition to this Aframax tanker, the shipyard has an additional Aframax tanker on order and is completing the second of two 46,000-dwt product tankers for Crowley.
Austal lays keel for Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship
Austal held a keel-laying ceremony on Oct. 18 for an Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) — Jackson (LCS 6), one of five Austal-designed 417-foot U.S. Navy Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ships under contract with the U.S. Navy.
Due to Austal’s modular approach to ship manufacture, 35 of the 37 modules used to form this aluminum trimaran design are already being assembled. For Austal, keel-laying marks the beginning of final assembly.
For the LCS, Austal, as prime contractor, is teamed with General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics. As the ship systems integrator, General Dynamics is responsible for the design, integration and testing of the ship’s electronic systems, including the combat system, networks, and seaframe control.
