SERVICES

Consulting & Advisory Services

Our Services

CONSULTING & ADVISORY SERVICES

Our technical team has the necessary maritime engineering and architecture experience to fully analyze each and every situation to offer solutions for the best possible outcome for our clients. We will analyze vessels or fleets as well as facilities to develop a comprehensive plan for your endeavor. With our project management experience, we can recommend when and how to best complete the necessary work with minimal impact and maximum economic return.

Vessel Operations Support

NETSCo’s marine operations engineers are skilled in analytical thinking along with hands-on experience to apply these skills to support design applications and to solve existing and emerging problems.Our team will identify and solve technical problems to support the design of a system, component, or process appropriate to marine engineering operations. We can conduct safety audits or provide hull, mechanical and electrical inspections along with structural assessments for an aging vessel. In addition, NETSCo can conduct surveys of ships, barges and dry docks for pre-acquisition or accident investigations and marine forensic engineering services for insurance claims.

Technical and Operations Manuals and Plans for Ships

NETSCo has written many application and installation guides, plus, operations and technical specifications, plans, and manuals for vessel operators. These include fire control and spill response plans, capacity plans, computer loading programs, project application and installation guides, ballast water management plans, cargo securing manuals, trim and stability guidebook as well as safety and training manuals for crew. These guidebooks are prepared by mariners, for mariners, because at NETSCo we speak your language.

NETSCo offers additional consulting services in:

Valuation Surveys
Condition Surveys
Damage Surveys
Vessel Traffic Studies
Life Extension Studies
Fleet Optimization Analysis
Economic Analysis
Stability Calculations
Structural Analyses of Cargoes, including Detailed FE Modeling
Cargo Integrity Studies
Structural Analyses of Ships and Barges
Independent Review of 3rd-party Marine Engineering or Policy Procedures
Load-out and Relocation Projects
Regulatory Assessment and Liaison
Emergency Response Planning
Load and Off-load Calculations and Ballast Plans
And more…

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Richard A. Mueller

President/CEO

Richard A. Mueller has more than three and a half decades as an C-level executive, project manager, consultant. As founder of NETSCo, Inc., in 1984, his experience includes overall corporate management, project management as an owner’s representative in oversight or hands-on positions. Richard also has extensive experience in vessel operations, manning, personnel, traffic and dispatch issues as well as providing repair and maintenance oversight. In addition, Richard has experience in crisis management experience: including vessel groundings, major mechanical casualties, on-scene investigations, oil spills, etc.

Prior to founding NETSCo, worked for Hyde Products, Inc. from 1979-1984, in their marine department, selling chemicals, parts, and marine equipment.

Richard is also one of the founders of Choice Ballast Solutions, a consulting and advisory services firm with a specific focus on compliance with ballast water management (BWM) requirements. He holds eight [8] patents, both US and international, and is the inventor/designer for the Nutech O3 Mark III System. This BWMS was IMO Type Approved and Flag State Approved in Korea and was sold to NK O3, the current provider of the Blue Ballast System. Richard has extensive experience with all types of BWMS design, installation, testing, start up and service.

Richard has been a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) for over 39 years and has held various elected positions including four [4] terms as Chairman for the Great Lakes/Great Rivers Section, V.P. of Planning/Public Policy and he currently serves as the Functional VP of Membership, and serves on the Council and the Executive Committee. He is a longstanding member of the U.S. Propeller Club in Cleveland, OH and Tampa, FL. Richard is also an elected Member of the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and serves on the ABS Great Lakes Members Committee.

John Williamson

Engineer Manager, Cleveland

John Williams has more than 35 years of experience working in the maritime industry. He has extensive experience in regulatory requirements associated with marine operation, project management, and engineering design, planning and budgeting of capital projects. His responsibilities at NETSCo will include managing and directing our group of experienced engineers and designers. In addition, he will define the scope and manage projects, assign staff, and act as NETSCo’s delegate with clients, classification societies and other regulatory agencies.

Prior to this position, John worked as an Owner’s Representative at shipyards during the building of new vessels or the refurbishment of existing vessels. During his breaks in shipyard tours of duty, John was a Mechanical/Electrical Engineer for NETSCo. John has also held positions at Lafarge NA as a Marine Maintenance Manager and Port Engineer, Transport and Marine in Durban, South Africa, and Tongaat-Hulett where he learned to perform overhaul and servicing of diesel engines, turbochargers, steam turbines and centrifugal and positive displacement pumps as well as general machining including turning, milling & shaping. John also has experience as a mariner with Unicorn Lines progressing to First Assistant Engineer.

John holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from the Harcourt Learning Direct Center for Degree Studies and has additional studies in Marine Engineering from the Natal College for Advanced Technical Education.

Trish McIntyre

Engineering Manager, Tampa

Trish McIntyre has more than 26 years of experience in project management as well as reviewing and approving machinery system design. Her responsibilities at NETSCo include managing and directing our group of experienced engineers and designers; defining the scope of projects and assigning resources, as well as interacting with clients, classification societies, and other regulatory agencies.

Prior to NETSCo, she held the principal engineer position at the American Bureau of Shipping in New Orleans for the machinery group and assisted in the development of the machinery sections of the Rules for Building and Classing Steel Vessels Under 90M in Length. Her other responsibilities included the role of project leader, vessel and equipment surveyor with extensive experience in Code, Rule and Regulation compliance in both design and implementation phases. Trish was also part of DNV-GL where she held positions of Senior Engineer and Surveyor for offshore vessel systems and drilling materials and components, as well as field engineer for Austal Shipbuilding for the LCS class ships focused primarily on propulsion system installation and operations.

Trish holds a degree in Marine Engineering from Texas A&M University and has served on the ABS Rule Development and Technical Committees.

Richard T. Nicholls, P.E

Chief Naval Architect / Marine Engineer

Richard T. Nicholls has more than 45 years in the maritime industry, including four years at the U.S. Coast Guard Technical Office on Governors Island, New York. Over this time, he has been responsible for all phases of project management as well as building, piping and structural modifications, plus storage tank installation, designs involving hazardous materials, environmental compliance and use of special corrosion-resistant materials.

Prior to joining NETSCo, Richard worked with Marine Consultants and Designers, Inc., as well as in the defense and the petrochemical industry. His project experience includes vessel design, lengthening, repowering, self-unloader conversions, electrical generator installation, automation and other modifications for both ocean and lake vessels. He has also worked on bulk carriers, tankers, gas carriers, barges, tugs, passenger vessels and integrated tug barges.

Richard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering from the University of Michigan, a Graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute, and an MBA from Baldwin-Wallace College. He is a registered professional engineer in Ohio, Florida, and Wisconsin. Richard is a 50-year member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME).

Jerome J. Mueller, Jr., P.E.

Vice President – Engineering

Jerome J. Mueller has over 40 years of experience in the marine business preparing technical specifications and design as well as detailed drawings for new installations and existing system modifications including diesel re-powerings, major conversions, piping system modifications and ship machinery surveys.

Prior to NETSCo he served as project leader for marine engineering projects such as boiler automations, self-unloading conversions, bow thruster installations, diesel engine re-powering and marine sanitation device retrofits. In addition, Jerome has prepared, coordinated and supervised dock trials and sea trials for new and converted ships, both foreign and domestic.

Jerome is a Registered Professional Engineer in the States of Ohio and Florida. He is a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME), The United States Propeller Club, Port of Cleveland as well as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Naval Engineers, and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Jan Flores, P.E

Vice President

Jan Flores has more than 20 years in the maritime and offshore industry. He has developed a wide range of expertise including specialized and bulk marine transportation, complex offshore projects, offshore support vessels, shuttle tankers, FPSO/FSO, and LNG/CNG

Prior to joining NETSCo, he directed the FSO Group at OSG and was responsible for Business Development in the offshore market. While with OSG, Jan was the Technical Project Manager overseeing the development of the MT Overseas Cascade and the MT Overseas Chinook. Both vessels were the first two dedicated shuttle tankers in the Gulf of Mexico and now support the FPSO Pioneer, serving the Petrobras deepwater fields known as Cascade & Chinook. In addition, Jan held the position of Technical and Marine Superintendent at Crowley Maritime Corporation.

Jan holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Ocean Engineering with a specialization in Naval Architecture. He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Florida. Jan is a member of The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and serves as a member of the American Bureau of Shipping Americas, Technical Committee.