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Philly tanker update (8/27)

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has issued the following news release, which also is available on their web site HERE 27.08.2007 Construction of Aker American Shipping Product Tanker Series Accelerates as Benchmarks Achieved on Two Vessels Third tanker launched; start of production initiated on sixth vessel in build program PHILADELPHIA, PA (August 27, 2007) – With two tanker vessels already delivered on charter and in service to Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (OSG), Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (APSI) has achieved major milestones on two subsequent vessels in the build program. The third product tanker in the series, Hull 007, has been floated from its berth in the yard’s Building Dock, and steel cutting has been initiated for Hull 010, the sixth vessel in the series, marking start of production on that ship. The yard’s massive Building Dock was flooded on Saturday, August 25, lifting Hull 007 off its keel blocks in advance of the ship’s move to the nearby Outfitting Dock, where testing and commissioning of the vessel will take place. Like its two predecessors, Hull 007’s construction is being financed by a loan facility with Caterpillar Financial Services Corporation (Cat Finance). Chris Oberholtzer, International Account Manager for Cat Finance, remarked, “Aker Philadelphia Shipyard continues to impress all of us at Cat Finance with its constant improvement. Cat Finance is involved with many of the major U.S. shipyard build and repair programs, and from our vantage point no other shipyard in the U.S. is completing vessels of this size at this speed and with this level of quality. We are proud to be partnered with APSI in bringing these world-class vessels to America’s waterways.” When completed later this year, the ship will join its two predecessors in American Shipping Corporation’s (ASC) fleet. The series of double-hulled, environmentally friendly product tankers are owned by ASC, a sister company of the yard, and are bareboat chartered to OSG, who in turn time charter the vessels to end users. Two days after floating the third tanker, steel cutting for the sixth vessel in the series commenced on Monday, August 27. The first steel plates were cut on one of the yard’s two state-of-the-art plasma cutting machines, and will be used in the construction of engine room sections for Hull 010, the tenth vessel built by the yard since it returned shipbuilding to Philadelphia in 2000. With two other tankers also in production, the yard now once again has four of the 600-foot long MT 46 Veteran Class tanker vessels under construction simultaneously. 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 their respective fields. ###