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Philly tanker update (10/17)

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard announced it has started production on the fourth ship in its 10-vessel series of double-hulled tankers. The shipyard issued a news release that appears below and also is available on the Aker Philadelphia web site HERE Steel Cutting Begins on the Next Tanker at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Four vessels in the ten ship series now under construction simultaneously PHILADELPHIA, PA (October 16, 2006) – Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has commenced production on the fourth vessel in its ten ship series of double-hulled, environmentally friendly product tankers. Steel cutting for the ship, the eighth built by the shipyard since its opening six years ago and the fourth under construction concurrently, was performed on one of the yard’s two state-of-the-art plasma cutting machines. The vessel is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2008. Consistent with the build method for all the vessels in the series, the first steel plates cut for the ship will be used in construction of the engine room of the 46,000 deadweight ton (dwt) product tanker. Upon completion, the ten tankers will be owned by American Shipping Corporation, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping, and bareboat chartered to Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc (OSG). To date, six of the 10 tankers in the build program are under signed time charter, with two-ship agreements in place between OSG and Shell, BP and Tesoro. The first vessel in the series will officially be named the Overseas Houston in a ceremony to be held next month, and will be delivered to OSG in the fourth quarter of this year. 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. ###