Karl Erik Kjelstad News

Norwegian offshore vessel owner DDW Offshore, a subsidiary of Akastor, has entered into bareboat charter and future sale agreements for two of its AHTS vessels with the Brazilian subsea services company OceanPact.Under the charter, DDW Offshore - formerly known as DOF Deepwater,  will supply two AHTS vessels Skandi Saigon and Skandi Pacific for a period of 26 months. As part of the agreements, Akarstor said that a forward sale of the vessels has also been agreed. Under this deal, OceanPact will buy the vessels at the end of the charter period.

Norwegian offshore oil and gas consultancy and services companies First Geo (owned by Akastor), and AGR Bidco are set to merge."Akastor AS (Akastor), has entered into agreements with Silverfleet Capital, DNB Bank ASA and Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge (together the AGR stakeholders) to combine AGR Bidco AS (AGR) with First Geo AS," said a press statement.The Transaction will be carried out primarily as an asset deal, whereby assets in the current AGR legal structure and three legal entities will, together with First Geo, be transferred to a new legal structure, which in turn will be transferred to Akastor to establish the merged company.The merged company will be named AGR. Akastor will hold 100% of the shares in the company and 55% of the economic interest.

Aker Solutions subsidiary Aker Oilfield Services signs a contract to provide subsea construction services offshore Brazil. An undisclosed customer will utilise Aker Oilfield Services' subsea construction vessel Aker Wayfarer for a period of 230 days. Start-up of operations is likely to be in May/June 2013, with mobilisation and de-mobilisation taking place in north-east UK. Aker Wayfarer has previously been on a year-long campaign offshore Brazil during 2011 and 2012. "To secure another long-term campaign offshore Brazil is a compliment to the capabilities of Aker Wayfarer and her crew.

Skandi Aker, Aker's purpose-built intervention vessel will be used for deep and ultra-deep well intervention services. The agreement is valid for a period of two years plus options for three further one-year periods. The firm two-year part of the contract has an aggregated value of approximately USD 250 million. Start-up of operations is planned to take place offshore Angola in Q1 2013. Skandi Aker is the first well service vessel of its kind capable of performing riser-based subsea well intervention in deep and ultra-deep waters. Traditionally subsea well intervention has been performed from drilling rigs. But the rigs' high day rates have made such operations very expensive, while rig availability has been limited.

Kristian Røkke has been appointed President and CEO of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (AKPS). He replaces Jim Miller who has been appointed Executive Vice President of Aker Contractors’ US Onshore Engineering & Construction business and member of Aker Contractors’ new Executive Management Team. Mr. Miller is also nominated for the position as Chairman of the Board at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard. Kristian Røkke will take over as President and CEO of the Yard effective April 5, 2011. Mr. Røkke is currently the Senior Vice President of Operations at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard and has been in key operating positions at the facility for the last 4 years.

Karl Erik Kjelstad has been appointed executive vice president and member of the executive management team at Aker Solutions. Kjelstad will lead the development of the strategic initiative related to oilfield services and the company's fleet of marine vessels. Kjelstad will report directly to the CEO, and will work with Aker Oilfield Services and marine partner DOF to realize the potential of recent investments. Kjelstad, formerly Senior Partner & President, Maritime Technologies of Aker ASA, has been with the Aker group since 1998. He was President & CEO of Aker Yards ASA from January 2003-June 2007 and currently serves as Chairman of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA, Aker Oilfield Services Ltd, and Aker DOF Deepwater.

Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.. Niemi, a Finnish citizen, has broad Finnish and international industry experience. During the years 1989-1997 he was Managing Director and Member of the Board of the Finnish Guarantee Board. Countries. services in Investment and Development Finance. "We at Kvaerner Masa-Yards are very pleased to have Mr. board," said Jorma Eloranta, President and CEO of Kvaerner Masa-Yards. Trond Ø.

A new Board of Directors has been elected for Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.. Chairman: Leif-Arne Langøy (President and CEO, Aker Kvaerner Yards AS) Members: Jorma Eloranta (President and CEO, Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.), Karl Erik Kjelstad (Executive Vice President, Aker Kvaerner Yards AS), Oddvar Slettevold (Executive Vice President, Aker Kvaerner Yards AS) and Trond Ø. Westlie (Chief Financial Officer, Kvaerner ASA). Aarne Ukkola and Jorma Malinen continue as representatives of the personnel.

The announced merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards and Aker Finyards — both members of the Aker Yards Groups — draws to a conclusion nearly a decade of change within the Finnish shipbuilding community, while providing the technically talented and market capable company with a clear vision for the future. Long an elite member of the world's select fraternity of "high value ship" builders, the Finnish maritime community has built and maintained a leadership in several technically demanding categories — cruise shipping, LNG carriers and ice ship technology, to name but a few — despite the country's relatively small size, environmental challenges and fierce competition from lower cost competitors in the Far East Aker Yards Group recently announced the merger of Kvaerner Masa-Yards Inc.

Aker Yards and Color Line have signed a contract to build a sister vessel to MS Color Fantasy, the worlds largest cruise ship with car deck, that was delivered in December 2004. The agreement includes a buyers option to purchase a third vessel. The new vessel will be named MS Color Magic, and will traffic the route Oslo - Kiel as from the fourth quarter 2007. The contract value is EUR 325 million. MS Color Magic will be Color Lines second cruise ship with a car deck, and will have a wide variety of entertainment and conference areas. The number of cabins will be higher than on Color Fantasy. The vessel will be 223.7 meters long and 35 meters wide. MS Color Magic will be built partly at the yard in Turku, and partly at the yard in Rauma.

Aker Yards and ALSTOM will join forces in shipbuilding, seeking to create a shipbuilding leader focused on high value added ships, including cruise ships. The companies plan to establish a new company consisting of the shipyards in Saint-Nazaire and Lorient. Aker Yards will own 75 percent of the new company, and ALSTOM will keep the remaining 25 percent until 2010. Aker Yards currently has 13 yards in five countries. The new company will offer some unique synergies, particularly on the cruise market segment, where Italy’s Fincantieri has dominated in recent years. The combined French and Finnish builders have produced a number of world class cruise ships through the years, including icons such as SS France, Queen Mary 2, the Voyager class and the Freedom class ships.

Aker Yards and Damen Shipyards Group are planning to establish a joint venture owning the Damen Shipyards Okean yard in Mykolayiv, Ukraine. The plans will contribute to an increased steel- and shipbuilding capacity of Aker Yards. The Okean yard is able to build a variety of vessels, steel sections for all the three business areas of Aker Yards, as well as the existing Damen range of vessels. Rene H. Berkvens, CEO of Damen Shipyards Group emphasizes that the product range of Aker Yards matches very well with the capacities of the Okean yard and for that reason this is a very valuable cooperation. For Aker Yards ownership share it will pay EUR 10 million cash at closing. Further payments will be dependent on financial performance of the yard.

The Board of Aker Kvaerner Yards has appointed Karl Erik Kjelstad as the company's President and Chief Executive Officer. Kjelstad has occupied these posts in an acting capacity since January 16, 2002, when the previous incumbent, Leif-Arne Langøy, left to become president and CEO of Aker RGI. Kjelstad graduated as an engineer specializing in marine subjects from the Norwegian Institute of Technology (now the Norwegian University of Science and Technology) in 1992. In the last 11 years he has held a number of leading positions in the maritime industry - with Aker Yards since 1998 and Aker Kvaerner Yards since the company was established in February 2002.

Oslo-based Aker Kvaerner Yards is irony in action. It serves an ancient industry dominated by older generation, yet is led by a fresh faced young executive. It prospers in a capital and equipment intensive market, yet is helping to re-define some of these relationships via the Internet. The organization is the largest shipbuilding consortium in Europe, yet good prospects for growth lie in smaller, compact yards. Once the cover of the book is read, though, it is increasingly easy to see why Karl Erik Kjelstad, 36, was tapped to lead one of the top shipbuilding consortiums in the world. Aker Kvaerner Yards is a collection of 16 yards and approximately 16,500 employees that generates an annual turnover of nearly $3 billion.