OSX to Start Construction of Giant Shipyard in July to Support Brazilian Offshore Sector

OSX Brasil S.A. , a Brazilian publicly held corporation focused on the provision of equipment and services to the offshore oil and gas industry, through integrated operations in shipbuilding, chartering of exploration and production (E&P) units, and operation and maintenance (O&M) services, informs its shareholders and the market in general that:

The Açu Shipbuilding Unit (Unidade de Construção Naval do Açu, “UCN Açu”) received its Installation License, LI n° IN016966, issued by the Environmental State Institute (Instituto Estadual do Ambiente, “INEA”), on June 22nd, 2011, approximately one year after the beginning of the environmental licensing process.

OSX will commence construction of the largest shipyard of the Americas in the month of July, creating approximately 14,000 direct jobs; 10,000 of them during the shipyard´s operational phase and 4,000 during the implementation and construction phase. The Açu Shipbuilding Unit team will benefit from training and professional capacity building provided by the Naval Technology Institute (Instituto Tecnológico Naval, “ITN”). The ITN is being developed by OSX, leveraging from state-of the-art-technology by Hyundai Heavy Industries (“Hyundai”), a world leader in shipbuilding and OSX partner in UCN Açu, with more than 38 years of experience in constructing equipment for the offshore oil and gas industry.

UCN Açu features unique logistical integration, operational efficiency and local industrial synergies within the Açu Superport Industrial Complex, in the Industrial District of São João da Barra (Distrito Industrial de São João da Barra, “DISJB”), implemented by the Industrial Development Company of the State of Rio de Janeiro (Companhia de Desenvolvimento Industrial do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, “CODIN”).

OSX receives the UCN Açu Installation License with the responsibility of developing this landmark project in accordance with principles of social and environmental sustainability, thus reflecting the high standards of the EBX Group and its commitment to the State of Rio de Janeiro, through its subsidiaries LLX and OSX, whose UCN Açu project includes:

allocation of approximately R$ 34 million to basic sanitation infrastructure works in the city of São João da Barra along with measures and initiatives for the protection of local biodiversity; allocation of approximately R$ 37 million to implement and maintain environmental conservation units; workforce capacity building and training programs in neighboring communities; implementation of the fishing and agriculture social investment plan for the region; implementation of an Integrated Territory Management plan, a participatory management model involving the public sector, private companies, academic institutions and other civil organizations, aiming at promoting a responsible development of the region; and creation of RPPN Caruara, a private environmental reserve that will have approximately 3,845 hectares protected area.

For Luiz Eduardo Guimarães Carneiro, CEO of OSX, “Receiving the installation license for UCN Açu is a reason for OSX´s team and for all of us, Rio de Janeiro´s citizens, to be glad and proud of, as we look to enjoy serious, solid and long-term opportunities for sustainable economic development. All of us are working with enthusiasm to establish the largest shipyard of the Americas, which will enable the construction, with national content, of the enormous quantity of naval equipment that our country needs to produce the oil that we have found offshore. This will permit Brazilians to finally enjoy this extraordinary achievement, which belongs to all of us!”

[mappress]
Source:OSX , June 27, 2011;