Muehlhan AG

Regulatory Filings • Dec 19, 2008

News Details

Corporate | 19 December 2008 08:49

Muehlhan AG: Dispose of coatings on mothballed U.S. navy ships in an environmentally friendly manner

Muehlhan AG / Development of Sales/Miscellaneous

Announcement, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EquityStory AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

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Muehlhan will dispose of coatings on mothballed U.S. navy ships in an
environmentally friendly manner

• U.S. authorities award MCC contract to remove old coatings
• Measures will be implemented to prevent further water contamination by
hazardous substances from 'Ghost Fleet'

Hamburg, 19 December 2008 – The Muehlhan Group employees (Entry Standard;
ISIN DE000A0KD0F7) already have extensive experience in overhauling active
U.S. Navy battleships. In 2009, they will once again climb aboard the decks
of destroyers and combat supply ships. However, this contract is quite
special because, from a distance, the U.S. Maritime Administration’s
steel-gray reserve fleet looks like a well-maintained U.S. naval museum. A
total of 74 ships - including many veterans of the Cold War - are lined up
in orderly rows along an almost four-kilometre stretch of Suisun Bay in
California. There’s even a tugboat that survived the attack on Pearl
Harbor. Only when you get closer do you see the flaking paint and the
rusted areas under the gray exteriors.

The reason: the average age of the mothballed ships is 51 years, nearly
double the normal life span. Many of the ships no longer have any military
value and the responsible government authority would like to dispose of the
steel giants. However, the nearest scrapping yards with the capacity to
recycle the ships are almost 5,000 nautical miles away, in Texas. And many
of the aging Ghost Fleet vessels cannot be towed to Texas in their present
condition, because en route, they could cause damage to the marine
environment from paint falling off into the water.

For the authorities, whose job it is to manage several of these 'Ghost
Fleets' for emergency situations, the current status seems like a Catch-22
situation: If the ships remain at Suisun Bay, they risk breaking
environmental protection laws; if they tow them away, they risk doing the
same.
The Suisun Bay fleet has also turned into a legal problem. Local
environmental groups have sued in several Federal Court cases demanding
removal of the pollutants and politicians are pressing for a curb on
further environmental hazards.

A solution has now been reached.
Muehlhan Certified Coatings, a Muehlhan subsidiary located in Concord,
California that is actually a specialist in the remediation of aging steel
bridges, has signed a one-year Master Agreement, renewable for an
additional four years with the U.S. Maritime Administration to deal with
the problem. The contract calls for the Company to remove the harmful
flaking paint above the water line to prevent further water pollution.
'According to US media reports internal studies estimate more than 21 tons
of paint might have peeled or washed off of the ships over several decades.
These old coatings contain lead, zinc, barium, copper and a whole array of
other possibly dangerous metals,' explains Dr Andreas Krüger, Chairman of
Muehlhan’s Executive Board. All in all, it is estimated that there might be
still some 65 tons of paint remaining on the ships’ decaying decks and
rusting superstructures that urgently need to be removed. Muehlhan
Certified Coatings will carefully remove these hazardous substances by
covering the affected surfaces with extensive enclosures and using special
tools and vacuum cleaners to ensure that no additional paint particles are
allowed to fall into the water. In the past, the Muehlhan Group has
demonstrated its commitment to working in an environmentally friendly way
and providing ecologically sound services, in part by developing its own
technologies for blasting and coating steel surfaces. 'We are pleased that
our Group will be able to contribute to improving the water and
environmental conditions on the California coast. If this means that former
naval vessels can be disposed of in a peaceful manner, then that is yet
another incentive', says Dr Krüger.

About Muehlhan:
The Muehlhan Group is a leading world provider of marine surface
protection. Its core business consists of applying and renewing corrosion
protection coatings to steel structures. They include steel surfaces of
ships and of oil and gas rigs and platforms. The Muehlhan Group is also
active in the Industry Services segment, which, besides scaffolding for
marine and industry customers, includes surface protection for wind
turbines, chemical production plants, and fuel storage depots, steel
bridges, cranes, and machinery. The company’s patented technology
brand-named μ-jet® guarantees especially high quality and efficiency
in the removal of old coatings and rust, particularly in the open sea.
Muehlhan was established in Hamburg in 1881 and employs some 2,400
employees around the world. In 2007 the company generated revenue of EUR
196 million (IFRS). For further information visit www.muehlhan.com.

Press contact: Ties Kaiser c/o Muehlhan AG, Phone +49 40 752 71 156, email:
kaiser@muehlhan.com

19.12.2008 Financial News transmitted by DGAP

Language: English
Issuer: Muehlhan AG
Schlinckstrasse 3
21107 Hamburg
Deutschland
Phone: +49 40 75271 0
Fax: +49 40 75271 130
E-mail: investorrelations@muehlhan.com
Internet: www.muehlhan.com
ISIN: DE000A0KD0F7
WKN: A0KD0F
Listed: Freiverkehr in Berlin, Hamburg, München, Stuttgart; Entry
Standard in Frankfurt

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