Brazil Shipbuilding: OSX Receives Installation License

OSX, an EBX Group Company focused on offshore naval industry, received the Installation License for its Shipbuilding Unit, which will be installed at the Açu Superport Industrial Complex, in São João da Barra (RJ). The document was issued 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 (ITN). The ITN is being developed by OSX, leveraging from state-of the-art-technology by Hyundai Heavy Industries, 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.

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 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."