Philadelphia shipyard to construct two Jones Act tankers

The Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (APSI), the sole operating subsidiary of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (Oslo: AKPS), announced today that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has agreed to fund the purchase of certain APSI assets worth USD 42 million to finance the construction of two newbuild Jones Act tankers.

The vessels would be the 17th and 18th vessels constructed at the yard. The Commonwealth’s approval makes effective an agreement between APSI and the Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corporation (PSDC), announced January 2, to actively seek two new orders.

To further support continuing operations of APSI, the Philadelphia Metal Trades Council, which represents 11 unions at the shipyard, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on January 18, 2011. This new labor contract will extend until January 31, 2015.

APSI has already begun preliminary production activities on the first vessel and the company anticipates the acceleration of those activities in the coming weeks pending closing of transactions made from the sale.

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is a member of the Norwegian-based Aker family of global companies, leaders in global growth markets including energy technologies, energy resources, maritime technologies, seafood and marine biotechnology.