Avondale To Build Fourth DH Tanker

Litton Industries Inc. said Polar Tankers Inc. has exercised an option for a fourth double-hull crude oil carrier, valued at $197 million, to ship Alaskan crude oil. Under a contract awarded in 1997, Litton's Avondale Industries Inc. subsidiary has three 125,000 DWT crude oil carriers under construction. Delivery of the first ship is scheduled for January 2001. Long Beach, Calif.-based Polar Tankers, a subsidiary of Phillips Petroleum Co., Polar Tankers has an option with Litton Avondale for a fifth ship which could be exercised in the first quarter of calendar year 2001. The Millennium Class "next generation" tankers being built at Litton Avondale are the first new crude-oil carriers being built for the Alaskan trade in compliance with the Federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990. The Millennium Class tankers are being built to meet or exceed existing and proposed environmental regulations.