A technical exchange agreement has been signed by Ingalls Shipbuilding division of Litton Industries and Kockums Mekaniska Verstads, AB, a Swedish shipyard.
The latest experience and information on technological developments taking place at both yards will be made available to each other by the accord, advised Lars-Erik Thunholm, chairman of Kockums, and Ellis B. Gardner, senior vice-president of Litton and president of Ingalls.
Kockums, located at Malmo, Sweden, has entered into this unprecedented arrangement between shipbuilding firms of two countries in order to participate in technological advances to be incorporated into Ingall's new shipyard under construction in Pascagoula, Miss., Mr. Thunholm said.
The new Litton shipyard, scheduled to be in production by 1970, is the first of its kind in the United States. The $130-million plant will turn out ships on an assembly-line basis.
Kockums is one of the most modern and competitive shipyards in the world, Mr. Gardner said. He credited earlier exchanges with the Swedish shipyard management and personnel for many of the new ideas and concepts that are being incorporated into Litton's new shipyard.
The agreement will make available exchanges of personnel for training and on-site inspections as well as the interchange of technical information, Mr. Gardner said.
Under this program, each will be a laboratory for the other - Ingalls in the systems, techniques and equipment resulting from its intensive application of capital to shipbuilding, and Kockums in the utilization and development of the latest machinery and equipment for building ships, Mr. Gardner said.
All exchanges of information will be subject to security restrictions imposed by the governments of the United States and Sweden and to non-disclosure stipulations in contracts with third parties.
Kockums has completed more than 500 vessels totaling more than 5-million tons. A pioneer in welded construction techniques, the firm has evolved 20 standard designs covering various ship sizes and types, as well as highly specialized vessels. Among the highly specialized ships produced by Kockums are fast refrigerated vessels and the MS Paul Endacott, designed to carry 852,000 cubic feet of liquid petroleum gas at condensation temperature (-51 degrees C.) and atmospheric pressure. Kockums is also a leading builder of diesel marine engines.
Kockums is currently building two vessels for carrying liquefied natural gas for Phillips-Marathon for service between Alaska and Japan. Ingalls recently has obtained the exclusive license for the United States from Worms Engineering of Paris for the same system of LNG carriage.
Ingalls, a producer of a wide variety of merchant and military ships, recently introduced utilization of lightweight, high-tensile steels throughout the hull and superstructure of merchant ships and is currently developing the design of a Litton standard line of tankers, bulk carriers and containerships. Designs of several sizes of tankers are already available and the first series is now under production. Ingalls is also the only private shipbuilder in the United States to have delivered every type of amphibious assault ship to the U.S. Navy.