NEW OIL BARGE

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 13, 15 July 1936, Page 13

NEW OIL BARGE

WELDED STEEL HULL

SOME NOVEL FEATURES

An event of more than passing importance is being celebrated this afternoon in the launching of the new oil barge Hinuwai from the yards of the Wellington Patent Slip Co. at Evans Bay. The construction and design of the barge marks a new era in the history of shipbuilding in this Dominion, and the vessel is one of the greatest undertakings of its kind attempted by steelworkers of this country.

Towards the end of last year the Union Company called for tenders throughout Australia and New Zealand for the construction of an oil barge, the barge to be built to plans and specifications prepared by the Union Company's naval architect, and the contract was secured by the Wellington Patent Slip Co., Ltd.

The dimensions of the oil barge are: Length. 170ft; beam, 33ft; and depth, 13ft. The hull, therefore, is the largest steel hull that has ever been built in New Zealand. Previously the largest hull was the s.s. Putiki, built in 1904 by Seagers, of Auckland. .The Putiki's measurements were: Length, 150ft; beam, 25ft; and depth, 10ft. The capacity measurement of the oil barge is therefore more than double that of the Putiki.

The barge also embodies a novel feature in that it is the first hull built in New Zealand on which the method of electrically welding together all the. component parts of the hull has been used in place of the older method of riveting. This all-welded method of construction entailed a lot of special preparations before the actual building of the barge commenced. To supply power for; the electric welding machines 400-volt electric power lines had to be run on posts over the hill from the slip company's works to the slipway where the barge was built. A travelling gantry was built to lift any part of the hull and carry it to its proper position. This gantry travelling backwards and forwards over the hull during construction has travelled altogether over 20 miles on its 200ft track.

Also, a sufficient number of men equipped with the necessary training as electric welders : could not be obtained, so one of the earliest preparations was the training of men for this work. The men were put through a course of instruction until their work would stand up to most exacting tests and several of them have turned out to be highly proficient welders. The hull of the oil barge is built on the Isherwood bracketless system, and although it is required for harbour use only it has been built to the' full strength necessary for ocean-going purposes. : LARGE CAPACITY. The oil-carrying capacity of the barge is 1210 tons. The hull is subdivided into ten compartments by means of oil-tight bulkheads. One of these is a Diesel oil tank and six are fuel oil tanks. In each tank there is an extensive system of heater coils for heating the oil to enable it to be pumped easily. Each tank has a separate filling pipe and a separate suction line. In the bow there is a large forepeak which is chiefly buoyancy space.

The barge is equipped with two oil pumps, each qapable of delivering 100 tons --of oil-per. hour.-The pumps and other- machinery,,-together with the large group of valves controlling the deliveries from the seven oil tank compartments, are installed in a large pump room at the after end of the barge.. -~. ,

A' steam winch and a windlass are installed on deck. The barge is fitted throughout with electric light, and a battery, service is also fitted so that the electric lighting can be used when the dynamo is not running. After the launching a large, two-furnace boiler will be installed on deck over the pump room. The boiler will be equipped for burning oil fuel. Accommodation for the keeper of the barge has yet to be built. This will be in a deckhouse towards the forward end of the deck.

In the.construction of the barge 310 tons of steel plates and angles have been used and over 150 tons of machinery and pipe lines have been installed. The electric welding of the hull has entailed- the use of 140,000 feet of electrodes, and the welds made total the impressive length of almost nine miles.

The building.of the barge has given employment to a considerable number of men. Although chiefly a job for boilermakers, welders, and • engineers, the barge has provided work for men from 17 trades.

The barge, when completed, will be employed in carrying oil from the Union Company's tanks at Miramar and delivering it into the bunker tanks of vessels requiring oil fuel at the city wharves.