This Day in History (1975): Aramco Fleet Expansion: 75 Ships by End of '75

From the June 25, 1975, edition of The Arabian Sun

The Aramco armada is growing at an ever-accelerating rate.

As recently as five years ago, the fleet consisted of 26 vessels, 10 assigned to the port at Ras Tanura and the remainder to Aramco's offshore fields.

By year-end 1975, the fleet is expected to number 75 boats with 14 serving the port of Ras Tanura, five new boats assigned to the newly opened port at Ju'aymah, and 56 boats involved in Aramco's expanded offshore exploration and production program.

Drilling supply boats to carry mud, food, water, and heavy equipment to the offshore rigs; drilling crew boats to take men to and from the rigs at the end of their two-week rotation period; diving boats assigned to inspect and maintain pipelines and wells; maintenance work boats equipped to sand blast and repaint producing platforms; producing work boats equipped to open or close well s as necessary; and inspection launches to check structures, pipelines, and cathodic protection — these are just some of the types of boats now assigned to the offshore production areas. And in most of these categories, additional boats will be purchased or chartered before the end of the year — usually incorporating new and improved equipment, and in some cases, notable design changes.

Caption for top photo: One of the newest additions to the Aramco fleet is the Ju'aymah maintenance boat, "Lift Tide," equipped with its own decompression chamber and the most sophisticated diving gear to enable divers to check and repair the port's deep-water hoses and ship loading buoys as necessary. Her 70-ton crane is combined with a flat, stern deck space to provide a handy working and diving platform.

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