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Aker Philadelphia Shipyard launches tanker (9/19)

Union-contracted Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has launched the first ship in its 10-tanker build program, the Overseas Houston (pictured below). The shipyard issued a news release dated Sept. 19 which appears below and also is available on the Aker Philadelphia web site HERE First Tanker in Historic Build Program Launched from Drydock at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Event marks most significant construction milestone to date in ten-ship order PHILADELPHIA, PA (September 19, 2006) – Aker Philadelphia Shipyard achieved a landmark milestone in its ten-ship tanker build program on Monday, September 18, 2006 when it successfully launched the first vessel in the series from its berth in the yard’s Building Dock. When completed in the fourth quarter of this year, the 600-foot long MT 46 Veteran Class tanker vessel will become the first vessel owned by subsidiaries of the yard’s sister company American Shipping Corporation (ASC) and leased to subsidiaries of Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG). The flooding of the yard’s Building Dock floated the vessel off its keel blocks in advance of the ship’s move to the nearby Outfitting Dock, where testing and commissioning will take place in the coming months. The fifth vessel constructed by Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, following four containerships for Matson Navigation Company, will be christened the Overseas Houston in a ceremony to be held at the yard on November 11. Originally announced in April 2005, the build program has the yard’s order book filled through 2010 and is part of a visionary arrangement with OSG which will bring double-hulled, environmentally friendly product tankers to U.S. waterways. Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. is the shipbuilding subsidiary of Aker American Shipping. In conjunction with affiliated subsidiaries, the state-of-the-art shipyard located on the site of the former Philadelphia Navy Yard is in the midst of a project to build, own, and lease product tankers for the U.S. Jones Act market. Aker American Shipping and Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. are members of the Norwegian-based Aker family of global companies, industry leaders in the fields of shipbuilding, fishery, and technology-based solutions for customers in oil, gas, energy, and process industries employing more than 50,000 people worldwide with annual revenues exceeding $12 billion. ###