217
May 8, 2003

Blessey Grows Again

This June will see Blessey Marine add yet another push boat to their ever growing fleet (www.blessey.com).

The latest addition will be delivered from the John Bludworth Shipyard in Corpus Christie Texas (www.jbludshipyard.com). To be named Dane F. Morgan, the new boat, has been built to a design by John L. Bludworth, III.

Like a number of others in the Blessey fleet, the towboat will be powered by a pair of V12-cylinder Cummins KTA38 M0 main engines. Each of these 38-liter (2300-cubic inch) engines deliver 850 HP at 1800 RPM. The engines will turn into Twin Disc MG540 6:1 gears to turn 74x52-inch stainless steel four-blade "Dominator Type" propellers from Sound Propeller Service, Inc.

Ship’s service power will be provided by a pair of 75 Kw Onan Gensets powered by Cummins 6BT5.6(D)M engines. The boat is equipped with air controls. The steering system is a full follow-up type employing two 5x30-inch cylinders. The 74 by 30-foot hull has a molded depth of 11 feet and a draft of 8.5 feet. The pilot house has a 32-foot eye level for good visibility over high floating empty oil barges. The hull is fabricated from (Half) ½-inch steel forward, 3/4-inch steel aft and 3/8-inch for sides and deck. Four crew rooms have a total of six berths.

Tankage is provided for 22,000 gallons of fuel, 7,000 gallons of water and 360 gallons of lube oil. Furuno navigation electronics are a model FR-8111 radar, Model GP-32 GPS, and a Model FCV-667 echo sounder. The VHF is an ICOM Model IC-M502. Additional equipment and systems include 36-point engine alarm system by Baton Rouge Marine Electric Service. A 1000 watt Xenon and a 500 watt incandescent search light. Two 40 tons Nabrico galvanized deck winches will handle the face wires. Air for the controls will be provided by two Speed Air 5Z400B air compressors 17 scfm at 175 psi.

Blessey Marine’s Mitch Jones, reports that "the boat will normally push two 30,000 barrel clean or dirty barges. Each barge will be 297-feet long. I would suspect that particular vessel will operate primarily on the Gulf (of Mexico) Coast."

The attached photos are courtesy of John Bludworth Shipyard. For further information contact:

Jay Rowan
Marine Accounts Manager
Cummins Southern Plains
P.O. Box 1367
4750 Homestead RD.
Houston, TX 77251 1367
Phone: 281 812 0175
Fax: 281 812 0154
E-Mail: jay.w.rowan@cummins.com

Gasper D'Anna
John Bludworth Shipyard, LLC
Corpus Christie, Texas
Phone: 361 887 7981
E-Mail: gdanna@jbludshipyard.com

Mitch Jones
Blessey Marine
1515 River Oaks Drive
Harahan, LA 70123
Phone: (504) 734-1156
E-Mail: mjones@blessey.com

575-551
550-526, 525-501, 500-476, 475-451, 450-426, 425-401, 400-376
375-351, 350-326, 325-301, 300-276, 275-251, 250-226, 225-201
200-176, 175-151, 150-126, 125-101, 100-76, 75-51, 50-26, 25-0