Aker Philadelphia Shipyard starts construction of 2nd Aframax tanker for SeaRiver Maritime
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, Inc. (APSI), the sole operating subsidiary of Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (Oslo: AKPS), began production activities yesterday on the second of two Aframax tankers that it is building for SeaRiver Maritime, Inc. (SeaRiver), Exxon Mobil Corporation’s U.S. marine affiliate, the shipbuilder's news release said.
The construction of the two tankers, valued at $400 million, will create more than 1,000 jobs. A small ceremony was held in the shipyard’s Fabrication Shop to commence cutting on the ship’s first steel plate. These plates will become part of the double hull of the tanker that protects the cargo tanks. When completed in 2014, the vessels will be 820 feet long and be capable of carrying 115,000 tons of crude oil. The tankers are intended to be used to transport Alaskan North Slope crude oil from Prince William Sound to the U.S. West Coast.
In addition to the two Aframax tankers for SeaRiver, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard is also currently constructing one 46,000 deadweight ton product tanker for delivery in early 2013 to Crowley.
About Aker Shipyard
Aker Philadelphia Shipyard’s facilities and equipment was installed new in 1998-2000. The shipyard was designed with the specific intent of reducing materials handling operations and is based on experience from state-of-the-art Aker Yards shipyards in Europe. APSI enjoys a significant advantage in its materials handling capabilities, which include a Goliath Crane with a maximum lift capability of 660 tons; specialized vehicles to transport grand blocks weighing more than 600 tons; and numerous other high-capacity and automated cranes.
APSI has a steel through-put capacity of about 25,000 tons per year. A continuous improvement program utilizing global resources and knowledge from similar types of yards in Germany together with the well proven HMD design has been implemented to ensure progress and through-put as the German yard has already proven possible.
APSI employs highly automated processes with a specific focus on steel production. APSI has developed an effective “just in time” delivery system for its steel plate, eliminating the need to maintain large inventories of steel at APSI. Another unique feature of APSI’s building philosophy is the maximization of subcontracted “turnkey” packages for many outfitting activities, which enables the yard to maintain the focus on steel fabrication and the ability to utilize the worldwide procurement system of Hyundai Mipo Dockyard.
Since 2006, APSI also operates a plate priming facility located outside of the shipyard that receives plates from the steel mill and blasts and primes them with a pre-construction primer.
