OVERSEAS HOUSTON Departs Tampa after Engine Shutdown at Sea
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The “Overseas Houston” has departed the port of Tampa, FL after a less-than-ideal first voyage that ended with the newly delivered product tanker being towed into port. Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG) took delivery of the vessel, the first in a class of 10 product tankers, earlier this month from Aker’s Philadelphia Shipyard. According to Aker spokesman Tom Marinucci, a sensor on the lube oil service system was the culprit in the incident. Additionally, he reported that investigations in Tampa have revealed that the sensors probably detected “some debris in the system.” Marinucci added, “The system functioned as designed, automatically shutting down the engines. The crew elected not to override this sensor.” The situation has since been rectified and the vessel departed for New Orleans on Tuesday evening.
The vessel was towed into port under the escort of two tug boats. It was temporarily berthed at the mouth of the Hillsborough River at East Bay, Alafia. A Coast PAO reported that the vessel’s loss of power occurred about 153 miles southwest of Tampa.
The vessel was not carrying cargo at the time of the incident and there were no injuries reported. Although the Coast Guard was reportedly investigating in concert with OSG technical personnel, both groups have been unusually tightlipped about the supposedly minor event. Telephone calls to OSG personnel in Tampa and New York were not returned. A Coast Guard spokeswoman told MarEx on Tuesday that the incident involving the complete disabling of a 46,000 DWT ton tanker, absent casualties, did not warrant further Coast guard involvement.
The incident, although now thought to be minor in scope, marks an inauspicious start to a relationship between Aker and OSG which promises to be long, and involve many other vessels of the same class. According to a February 7th OSG press release, the energy transportation services giant announced that it had signed “an agreement in principle pursuant to which Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping ASA, will construct up to six additional Veteran Class MT-46 Jones Act Product Tankers (three fixed plus three options). Once transferred to another Aker subsidiary, American Shipping Corporation, OSG will bareboat charter the vessels for initial terms of 10 to 15 years.”
According to Aker, at least three other product tankers in the series are currently under production at their Philadelphia yard with the second due to be delivered this summer. The first vessel of this class, the Overseas Houston, was scheduled to be delivered to Shell and begin trading during the week of February 26, 2007. The vessel will apparently now commence its trading schedule with a port call in the port of New Orleans.
Elsewhere, Dahlman Rose & Company, LLC, a self-described boutique investment bank specializing in the marine shipping and energy industries released commentary on OSG’s failure to make expected earnings in the 4th quarter of 2006. The investment bank has offices in New York, Houston and San Francisco. A Dahlman Rose research analyst, Omar Nokta, said in a press release, “The miss came from lower than expected product carrier operating days and higher operating, G&A and interest costs.” He also said, “We expect a spin-out of the company’s Jones Act business into an MLP at some point this year. The impact of any troubles from the recently delivered Overseas Houston will be of particular note to the viability of this venture as there are a further 9 vessels to be delivered.”