Gov. Rendell, in his last months in office, authorized $42 million in capital spending to go to the nonprofit shipyard development corporation to help Aker build two more tankers - without buyers lined up - and stay afloat.
The deal requires the approval of the state attorney general, Gov.-elect Tom Corbett. A spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office said Thursday the contract was under review.
Without state aid - and private construction financing that Aker is trying to line up - the nation's second-largest U.S. commercial shipbuilder will close before July, Aker says. Management has asked the union for contract concessions.
The Pennsylvania Office of Budget and the Department of General Services has approved the $42 million to go to the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, a state agency, which, in turn, would give it to the shipyard development corporation.
In return for $42 million, the Philadelphia Shipyard Development Corp. would buy certain assets, such as equipment and buildings.
Aker leases the yard for $1 a year, after taking it over from predecessor Kvaerner Philadelphia Shipyard in 2000.
Kvaerner ASA came here in the late 1990s after receiving a $429 million public subsidy, including $182 million from Pennsylvania.
Aker has built and sold 15 oceangoing commercial vessels under the 90-year-old U.S. Jones Act, which requires U.S.-made and -operated vessels to transport goods between U.S. ports.
The $42 million is contingent upon Aker's getting construction financing, and a guarantee of $210 million from its Norwegian parent company, Aker ASA, to build Ships Nos. 17 and 18 on spec. A yet-unnamed private lender would be in the mix.
