NASSCO Delivers Second Product Carrier
General Dynamics NASSCO, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), delivered the second ship of its State-class of product carriers to USS Products Investor, a shipbuilding joint venture led by the Blackstone Group. The ship is named Pelican State, the state nickname of Louisiana. NASSCO began constructing the Pelican State in August 2007. At a length of 600.4 ft, the double-hulled ship has a cargo capacity of approximately 331,000 barrels and will be used to carry petroleum and chemical products in Jones Act service between U.S. ports. “Completed more than eight months ahead of our original schedule, under budget, and in substantially fewer man-hours than the lead ship of the class…
U.S. Shipping Partners JV Charters Tankers to Navy
U.S. Shipping Partners L.P. said that the U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command has agreed to charter two new tankers being constructed for the Partnership's joint venture. The initial charter will be for twelve months at a cost of approximately $51 million. The Navy then has options to extend the charters via three one-year options and a further 11-month option, which if exercised would increase the cost to approximately $220m. The U.S. Navy said the ships would be deployed globally to transport petroleum products in support of US military forces. They will replace the current government-owned T-5 tankers that are expected to reach the end of their service life in 2010.
