Naming Ceremony Held for First of Ten OSG Tankers
The Naming Ceremony was held for the first product tanker in OSG's 10 ship series. Aker Philadelphia Shipyard achieved another significant milestone in the build program with keel laying for the third vessel in the series. The first section of the double- hulled product tanker scheduled for completion in late 2007 was lowered into the yard's building dock, the same dock where construction is underway on the second ship in the series.As part of the ceremony, coins were placed under the keel block recreating a long-standing tradition whereby shipbuilders hide special coins in the keel section of a ship as a permanent symbol of good fortune and safe travels. Michael Giantomaso, vice president of human resources, and Stephen Lalumera, president of the Boilermakers Union, represented Aker American Shipping in the ceremony, with Captain John Marquis and Chief Engineer Ed Hastings, participating from Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG). When completed, each vessel will weigh 46,000 deadweight tons (dwt) and be the most modern product tankers in the U.S. domestic fleet. The first ship in the program, formally named the Overseas Houston in a ceremony held at the yard on Saturday, Nov. 11, will be delivered by the end of 2006, with the second vessel scheduled for completion during 2007. All 10 product tankers in the series will be owned by American Shipping Corporation, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping, and chartered to OSG. To date, eight of the 10 tankers in the build program are under signed time charter, with agreements in place between OSG and Shell, BP and Tesoro. In addition to the Overseas Houston and the two vessels under construction in the Building Dock, production on the fourth tanker in the series is advancing, with steel cutting for that vessel having begun four weeks ago.