[FONT=Helvetica]Have you ever worked on an old Halter, American Marine or Burton(or any other US shipyard) built supply boat?
who built a better vessel?
which design had good sea keeping abilities?
Who had better workmanship?
what is your take on these old classics?
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A long time ago in the late 80’s I ran a Halter 180’er up in Alaska that had been converted to work in the fisheries. Very simple ship but very robust imo. The quarters certainly sucked but I felt fine about taking her into bad weather. A bare bones F150 would be my estimation of her.
What shocked me what finding a set of ship’s drawings. I was absolutely stunned at how few there were and how basic but for guys who built boats on a patch of dirt ground with a crawler crane I guess that was all that they needed. I remember the fire and safety plan was just a GA with hand drawn symbols and arrows pointing to the locations. They didn’t even use a straight edge for the arrows either and the Coast Guard stamped it “approved”. I also delivered a utility boat that went to Alaska to be a pilot vessel and she had no anchor windlass! What an effing pain in the as that was when I wanted to stop for weather when beating up the West Coat in February! If memory serves me she also had a barber’s chair at the helm in the wheelhouse. I honestly can’t remember if she had an autopilot now?
I worked at Turdwater for 11 years I can tell you I went through the whole encyclopedia of OSV’s. Just about anybody that worked there could say the same. All the boats I sailed there were built between 79-83. Every damn one of them was a flat bottomed crab cart. Every one of them rode like a roller coaster. There was once particular design built at Halter that we called the vomit comets those were the worst. They were obviously all built pretty good to with stand 20 years of neglect by Turdwater’s run it til it breaks mantra. I could sit here and complain about each class built at the different shipyards let’s just say they all suck.
I think half of those boats are crabbers in the Bering sea now or draggers.
The old Burton 165s were the best ride and best handling, especially before bow thrusters were the norm. Halter has always had good quality workmanship. Quality Shipyard was good also. American Marine (or American Can Co as we called them) was the shittiest. My first trip to take delivery of a vessel was interesting. I had trouble finding it between two giant piles of scrap metal on the Industrial Canal. Poor quality work.
The best conventional tugs IMO are the McDermott tugs. The Robin class were good but the best were the Heide Moran class.
Turdwater vomit comets; Wave Tide, Roll Tide, etc. The McDermott hulls seemed to ride better; Whittie, Tad, Jan, Carlson, Dickerson, O’Neal. There were 8 in all, 4 were 180’ and 4 were 194’. It was funny to see the look on the dispatcher’s face when he would waddle or roll up in a golf cart. “I seen dat big ole wheelhouse an tought you had a bigger deck den dat.”
[QUOTE=c.captain;83458]A long time ago in the late 80’s I ran a Halter 180’er up in Alaska that had been converted to work in the fisheries. Very simple ship but very robust imo. The quarters certainly sucked but I felt fine about taking her into bad weather. A bare bones F150 would be my estimation of her.
What shocked me what finding a set of ship’s drawings. I was absolutely stunned at how few there were and how basic but for guys who built boats on a patch of dirt ground with a crawler crane I guess that was all that they needed. I remember the fire and safety plan was just a GA with hand drawn symbols and arrows pointing to the locations. They didn’t even use a straight edge for the arrows either and the Coast Guard stamped it “approved”. I also delivered a utility boat that went to Alaska to be a pilot vessel and she had no anchor windlass! What an effing pain in the as that was when I wanted to stop for weather when beating up the West Coat in February! If memory serves me she also had a barber’s chair at the helm in the wheelhouse. I honestly can’t remember if she had an autopilot now?[/QUOTE]
Gotta love those barber’s chairs. . . . .
[QUOTE=injunear;83527]The best conventional tugs IMO are the McDermott tugs. The Robin class were good but the best were the Heide Moran class.[/QUOTE]
I haven’t run any of the Moran boats, but I have run a few standard McDermott boats. The Robin boats were decent, although I never really gained any love for the Alcos. I was also on the LAMCO IV for some time and really liked that one (I understand that she may be working in Hawaii these days). The Crowley Sea Swift/Invader class boats were also very durable and handy in heavy seas.
[QUOTE=cmakin;83536]I haven’t run any of the Moran boats, but I have run a few standard McDermott boats. The Robin boats were decent, although I never really gained any love for the Alcos. I was also on the LAMCO IV for some time and really liked that one (I understand that she may be working in Hawaii these days). The Crowley Sea Swift/Invader class boats were also very durable and handy in heavy seas.[/QUOTE]
I never worked for Crowley but I always heard good things aobut the Invader class tugs. I worked on one of the McDermont tugs and it was very good, the old Mac Tide 62. I liked the Main iron works built tugs. There were about 10 in that class, Dixie Carriers had 4 the Vigilant, Relience, Resolute, and Courageous. Maritrans had 4 of them the Freedom, Independance, Columbia, and I forget the other one, I think one of the east coast companies had one or two of the same class. Nice boats, rode good, hanlde good, well laid out, plenty of room down stairs. They all pushed notch barges and did good with them.
I never really worked on any of the supply boats, the only thing I ever did was deliver them. I started upgrading my license when I was young, so I got asked to ride thsoe things all over the place because they needed someone with an oceans endorsment to be onboard. Everyone I was on was light, only fuel and some ballast, the best I can remember they were all shallow draft 10 to 12 feet, and all rode like crap. I dropped several off in DelCarmen Mexico, Trinidad, several places in Brasil, even one or two in Nigeria, all miserable rides out in the Atlantic.
[QUOTE=ChiefRob;83614]I never worked for Crowley but I always heard good things aobut the Invader class tugs. I worked on one of the McDermont tugs and it was very good, the old Mac Tide 62. I liked the Main iron works built tugs. There were about 10 in that class, Dixie Carriers had 4 the Vigilant, Relience, Resolute, and Courageous. Maritrans had 4 of them the Freedom, Independance, Columbia, and I forget the other one, I think one of the east coast companies had one or two of the same class. Nice boats, rode good, hanlde good, well laid out, plenty of room down stairs. They all pushed notch barges and did good with them.
I never really worked on any of the supply boats, the only thing I ever did was deliver them. I started upgrading my license when I was young, so I got asked to ride thsoe things all over the place because they needed someone with an oceans endorsment to be onboard. Everyone I was on was light, only fuel and some ballast, the best I can remember they were all shallow draft 10 to 12 feet, and all rode like crap. I dropped several off in DelCarmen Mexico, Trinidad, several places in Brasil, even one or two in Nigeria, all miserable rides out in the Atlantic.[/QUOTE]
Many of those main Iron tugs were built for the North Sea. Jackson Marine, Newpark and a couple of coonass companies I can’t remember built quite a few. In the late '70s they started filtering into the East Coast towing companies and after Zapata-Gulf folded, more were dispersed.
Our paths were similar. I just started in '70. That was when going to sea was fun.
[QUOTE=injunear;83631]Many of those main Iron tugs were built for the North Sea. Jackson Marine, Newpark and a couple of coonass companies I can’t remember built quite a few. In the late '70s they started filtering into the East Coast towing companies and after Zapata-Gulf folded, more were dispersed.
Our paths were similar. I just started in '70. That was when going to sea was fun.[/QUOTE]
The only Main Iron Works boat I ever ran was the old GULF RULER. Crowley had chartered it for a year or so back in the early 80s. I don’t believe that it was laid out the same way as the boats that they built for Dixie or Maritrans (Sonat or whoever). What I do remember is what a hot, miserable engine room it was. No insulation on the exhaust collector on either of the turbo 16 EMDs. So hot you had to put rags on your hands and for your knees so you wouldn’t burn them on the deck plates adding oil to the engines. Huge galley. I always felt like I was eating in a gymnasium. One could tell it was an oilfield boat, though. First time I ever saw a barber’s chair in the wheelhouse. . . .
Southern Shipbuilding in Slidell build some big anchorhandlers which went to the fisheries in Alaska in the late 80’s. I worked on both the VOLUNTEER and DEFENDER and I remember those as being built like effing battleships.
[ATTACH]2446[/ATTACH][ATTACH]2447[/ATTACH]photos of Defender and Volunteer(now Global Explorer) from my collection
[QUOTE=c.captain;83664]Southern Shipbuilding in Slidell build some big anchorhandlers which went to the fisheries in Alaska in the late 80’s. I worked on both the VOLUNTEER and DEFENDER and I remember those as being built like effing battleships.[/QUOTE]
Offshore Logistics had those built in the early '70s for the North Sea. They brought the RESOLUTE and one other to Seward in '77. They originally had Nohabs with CP wheels.
Jackson Marine. There is a name out of the past … Fond memories and not so fond memories.
[QUOTE=injunear;83718]Offshore Logistics had those built in the early '70s for the North Sea. They brought the RESOLUTE and one other to Seward in '77. They originally had Nohabs with CP wheels.[/QUOTE]
I remember those horrible Polar-Nohabs and Kamewa CP wheels…nothing but grief! But the boats were built like the preverbial “brick shithouse”!
What about the old “Ocean Marine” boats? I was always impressed with them from a distance but never worked on one.
With all this supply boat talk, here is the JUSTIN CALLAIS alongside the Canyon Station Platform before the topsides were installed. Taken in April of 2002.
The OMS NUECES running fenders out to the lightering area, leaving Bolivar Roads in 2006.
[QUOTE=c.captain;83759]What about the old “Ocean Marine” boats? I was always impressed with them from a distance but never worked on one.[/QUOTE]
They were all built at American Can Co. The pitted metal in all plating looked like they were made from scrap iron. Poor workmanship. Plain Jane interiors.
They road well, towed excellent and at the time, the Smatco 84 winch with the water cooled drag brake was the cat’s ass for deep water anchor handling. (800 ft was extream at that time)
One williwaw we were caught in, The RESOLUTE had the 6 dog water tight hatches on the bow line lockers pushed in. The OCEAN MARLIN had the house welds ripped up on the 01 deck. I remember standing in the companionway from the engine room of the OCEAN KING watching the bulkheads twist and flex. Made my experience in the North Sea not so ominous.
