Page 8: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (May 2020)

Five Minutes

The (potential) $1.5B Deal

Philly Shipyard won a high-profle contract when TOTE Services awarded the deal to build up to fve new ships, the National

Security Multi-Mission Vessel (NSMV). We caught up with Steinar

Nerbovik, President & CEO, Philly Shipyard for insights on the deal.

While many companies globally fght to stay in business through the COVID-19 pandemic,

Philly Shipyard received a huge deal late last month: the contract to build up to fve NSMV ships, a contract that has been one of the most closely watched and hotly contested U.S. ship- building deals in recent memory. This shipbuild- ing contract extends beyond steel plate and ma- chinery, with NSMV State-Class training ships designed and built to provide a state-of-the-art training vessel that will provide at-sea training for up to 600 cadet-midshipmen at a time from the six state maritime academies.

The initial award (two frm orders + three op- tion ships) is valued at approximately $630 mil- lion, escalating to $1.5B if all fve ships are or- dered and built in series.

“First, we were honored to be selected by

TOTE to build these vessels, and for the oppor- tunity this provides to further diversify our busi- ness into government and commercial shipbuild- ing,” said Nerbovik. “I believe our track record of on-time, on-budget deliveries, plus having delivered more than 50% of all large Jones Act ocean-going vessels in the last 20 years, have all opened the door for us to be a strong contender.”

Philly Shipyard Today

Today Philly Shipyard has approximately 300 employees (a mix of its own and subcontractors), but with the new deal to build the State-Class se- ries it expects to re-constitute its full workforce with up to 1,200 employees during 2021.

Since 2003, Philly Shipyard has delivered 30 commercial ships, including (3) CV 2600 Con- tainer vessels; (1) CV 2500 Container vessel; (14) MT-46 Product Tankers; (2) MT 115 Afra- max Tankers; (8) MT 50 Product Tankers; and (2) 3600 Container Vessels. Aside from the contract to build the pair of NSMVs, it currently is work-

Photo: Philly Shipyard 8 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • May 2020