Kvaerner signs $1 billion deal to build 10 U.S.-flag tankers

Kvaerner signs $1 billion deal to build 10 U.S.-flag tankers    Kvaerner has announced a $1 billion deal to build 10 U.S.-flag double-hulled tankers, with the option for two additional builds, which will be managed under a new subsidiary American Shipping.
   The ships, which will be delivered by the shipyard between 2006 and 2010, will be chartered for at least five years at a cost of more than $500 million after delivery to New York-based Overseas Shipholding Group for service in the Jones Act domestic shipping market.
   American Shipping will own the Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard and charter the new tankers to domestic customers, including major oil and chemical producers and suppliers. The company will be headed by Brad Mulholland, former president of Oakland, Calif.-based Matson Navigation Co.
   Mulholland said the ships will be among the most efficient in the industry. American Shipping has a five-year agreement with Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, the provider of the 46,000-deadweight-ton vessel design.
   Kvaerner recently completed construction of two U.S.-flag containerships for Matson Navigation Co., and will build two more for delivery to the Oakland, Calif.-based carrier in July 2005 and June 2006.