Signal was awarded a contract by Kirby Ocean Transport Company of Houston, Texas to build two articulated tug/barge units; the vessel is comprised of a 20,000 DWT ocean bulk barge with a 6,000 BHP AT/B ocean tug, the Company news release said.
The barge will measure 480' x 90' x 36' and will be outfitted with Ocean Tug & Barge Engineering's Articouple connection. The 6,000 HP tugboat will be 125' x 42' x 22' built and classed to ABS Maltese Cross, +A1 Ocean Towing Service standards. The AT/B will transport dry-bulk commodities in United States coastwise trade.
The barge fabrication work started in August 2011 at Signal's state-of-the-art continuous flow manufacturing facility in Orange, Texas, which has 450,000 sq. ft. of covered fabrication area. Fabrication on the tug will begin in November. The first AT/B will be completed in 14 months; the second will be built in less than 12 months.
This facility recently completed two of the world's largest floating power generation barges within a 180-day production schedule.
Below are pictures of the 477 ST mid-body of the first barge coming out of the shop heading toward the blast and paint booth.
Signal International Inc. is a leading Gulf of Mexico provider of marine and fabrication services, including new construction, heavy fabrication, offshore drilling rig and ship overhaul, repair, upgrade and conversion.
Signal facilities from Texas to Alabama support projects with state-of-the-art equipment, advanced processes and highly skilled and abundant workforces.
Drilling rigs are fabricated at two facilities in Pascagoula, Miss., while shipbuilding and heavy manufacturing occur at our fab yard in Orange, Texas. Ship drydocking, repair and overhaul take place at Signal Ship Repair in Mobile, Ala.