NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING DELIVERS AMERICAN PROGRESS TO MOBIL CORPORATION

NEWPORT NEWS, Va., October 8, 1997 – Newport News Shipbuilding (NYSE:NNS) has delivered the double-hull petroleum products tanker American Progress to Mobil Corporation. The American Progress is the first double-hull vessel built in a U.S. shipyard to standards required in the U. S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA-90). OPA-90 requires all ships carrying petroleum products in U.S. coastal waters to be double-hull by 2015.

Mobil will employ the 46,000 deadweight-ton American Progress to transport refined petroleum products to its Florida markets.

Newport News Shipbuilding is America's largest ship design and construction company. It has produced approximately 800 ships during its 111 years of operations - including Navy aircraft carriers, submarines, and cruisers. The company is currently building the nuclear-powered aircraft carriers Harry S. Truman (CVN 75) and Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) and has begun work in preparation for construction of the Navy's New Attack Submarine. It is also building eight Double Eagle product tankers. Its 1996 revenues totaled $1.87 billion, with earnings before interest and taxes of $140 million. The current backlog is approximately $3.1 billion. The workforce numbers 18,000, making it Virginia's largest private employer.