Aker Philly Shipyard Lays Keel for Tanker

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard has layed the keel for the second vessel in the series, the sixth ship constructed at the yard since it started production in 2000. The first section of the double-hulled product tanker scheduled for completion in 2007 was installed in the yard’s Building Dock just a few hundred yards behind the first ship in the series, also currently under construction in the dock. 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 is expected to be delivered by the end of 2006, with the second vessel scheduled for completion during 2007. All ten product tankers in the series will be owned by American Shipping Corporation, a subsidiary of Aker American Shipping, and chartered to Overseas Shipholding Group (OSG). To date, six of the ten tankers in the build program are under signed time charter, with two-ship agreements in place between OSG and Shell, BP and Tesoro. As part of the ceremony, coins were placed under the keel block in a practice which recreates 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. Aker American Shipping CFO Jan Ivar Nielsen represented Aker in the ceremony, with Theo Mandopoulos, OSG’s site manager at the yard, participating from OSG.