Aker American Shipping

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Aker American Shipping ASA
Type	Public
Founded	1996
Headquarters	Oslo, Norway
Key people	Dave Meehan (CEO)
Area served	United States
Industry	Shipping Shipyard
Revenue	USD 254 million (2005)
Operating income	USD 13 million (2005)
Net income	USD 9 million (2005)
Employees	639 (2005)
Website	www.akership.com

Aker American Shipping (OSE: AKASA) is a Norwegian-American shipping and shipyard company and part of the Aker Group, with Aker ASA owning 53.4% of the company. The company is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway.

Aker American Shipping consists of the shipyard, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, and the shipping company, American Shipping Corporation (ASC). Aker American Shipping builds merchant vessels for companies operating under the Jones Act and, through its subsidiaries, owns and leases those ships as well.

The Jones Act requires all water transport between US ports to be operated by US flag ships and requires US flag ships to be built in US shipyards, owned by US citizens, and operated by an American crew.

[edit] History

Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, originally Kværner Philadelphia Shipyard, began as a product of a partnership of public and private investments used to rebuild and convert 110 acres of the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, which was closed in 1995. After the acquisition of Kværner, Aker took ownership of the yard.

In 2006, Aker Philadelphia Shipyard delivered the final vessel in a four-ship series of containerships to Matson Navigation Company. With that, the yard transitioned to building a series of Veteran Class MT46 double-hulled product tankers for bareboat charter to Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc., a build program that extends into 2012.