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AKER PHILADELPHIA SHIPYARDrea. Nevertheless, it was clear that Aker mostly closely alignsitself with a more European model.Locally, the Aker shipyard has a very European feel to itsatmosphere. This extends from the style of furniture in thereconverted office spaces to the distinct Norwegian accentsthat can sometimes be heard in the hallways. A small percentageof Aker’s approximate 1,200 employees are in fact fromEurope. Rokke declined to quantify that number, but it wasclear that these involved management visas and the process oftaking lessons learned from both European shipyards as wellas its own Norwegian parent. And, he added, “We have alsolearned a great deal from our sister companies, both in themarine and oil and gas sectors.” Aker Solutions, for example,has deep marine roots.“We have put a high emphasis on harnessing best practicesfrom other shipyards around the world since our start-up. Forexample, in 2005 we pioneered a partnership with the Koreanshipbuilding industry which we continue to refine and developtoday.” Aker, he said, emulates some aspects of German automationand parts marking. He added, “We have invested over$400 million in our facilities from the beginning. It starts withan efficient shipyard set up and layout to optimize shipbuildingprocesses, work flow and material logistics. We meldedbest practices from many shipyards and ended up with a worldclass facility that we’re proud of.”Asked about improvements in efficiency achieved over timeinvolving the economy of scale afforded by repeat, seriesbuildexperience, Rokke again declined to be specific, sayingonly, “We have gone from delivering one ship annually to ourpresent capability of producing three annually in a relativelyshort time period.” Rokke’s bottom line is simple: come 2018,Aker will be proven across multiple ship classes. At that point,he says, business should take care of itself. That remains tobe seen.At Aker, best practices also extend to giving virtually 90percent of all shipyard employees off during the holidays(26-31 December), something which Aker says allows themto do necessary equipment maintenance and upgrades. It alsomakes for a happier shipyard worker. Jeffrey Theisen, thefirm’s Chief Financial Officer, told MarPro that Aker had investedas much as $350 million in its workforce, includingtraining. All steel work is done in-house, with multiple plasmacutters and heavy assembly lines. Today, Aker can build vesselsup to 116,000 tons DWT and 43 meters beam.Finally, and with regard to the joint venture and profit sharinghulls, we asked Aker if these close relationships createdextra incentives to do a better job and perhaps, a more motivatedshipyard employee. Aker executives deny that this is thecase, saying that their workforce does the same job on everysingle hull and regardless of the terms of the deal. And, whileit shouldn’t make a difference, it probably does. Especiallywhen people know that the hull they are working on might beleaving the yard, but it won’t leave the bottom line. That’s nota bad thing.The Rally: Sustainable or Cyclical?The U.S. Department of Transportation recently said that 15commercial tankers are on order or under construction at theAker Philadelphia Newbuilding Backlog – November 2013Hull Number Client Type / DWT Delivery19 SeaRiver Aframax Tanker / 115,000 Q2 - 201420 SeaRiver Aframax Tanker / 115,000 Q4 - 201421 Crowley Product Tanker / 50,000 Q3 – 201522 Crowley Product Tanker / 50,000 Q4 – 201523 Crowley Product Tanker / 50,000 Q2 – 201624 Crowley Product Tanker / 50,000 Q3 – 201625 – 28 Crowley Product Tanker / 50,000 (*) OPTIONS …29 Matson Containership / 3600 TEU Q3 - 201830 Matson Containership / 3600 TEU Q4 - 201838 | Maritime Professional | 4Q 2013