In Pennsylvania, a shipyard is back to life due to U.S. energy development

Last fall, I wrote about how U.S. energy development is creating jobs in places you might not expect – such as in the Aker shipyard in Philadelphia.

In September, ExxonMobil affiliate SeaRiver Maritime signed an agreement with Aker to build two new Liberty Class tankers. Last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer looked into what this new business means for the shipyard, which was on the brink of closing just a year ago.

More than 800 workers – many previously laid off – are busy constructing the tankers, which will be used to transport crude oil from Alaska to customers on the U.S. West Coast. The newspaper notes that the $400 million project “set in motion the recalling of workers and the restarting of an apprenticeship program” that had been suspended in 2010 due to the economic downturn, which had caused more than 600 layoffs at Aker.

READ MORE:  http://www.exxonmobilperspectives.com/2012/06/18/in-pennsylvania-a-shipyard-is-back-to-life-due-to-u-s-energy-development/?utm_source=paid.outbrain.com&utm_medium=cpc