Rolls-Royce wins $7 million Syncrolift order

(Miami, FL. - January 9, 2001) Syncrolift Inc., a Rolls-Royce company, has been selected by the Suez Canal Authority to supply a shiplift and transfer system valued at more than $7 million for the dry docking of Nile River cruise ferries.

Delivery of the 3,420 ton-lift-capacity Syncrolift® is scheduled for the Armant Shipyard on the Upper Nile near Luxor City in March 2002. The shipyard, near the exclusive open World Pharaonic Museum of Archaeology including the Valley of the Kings, Tombs and Temples, will use the installation primarily for the dry-docking of ferries to improve efficiency in overall shipyard repair and maintenance, as well as minimising the loss of revenue while the cruise ferries are out of service for repair.

Geoff Stokoe, President, Syncrolift Inc, said "This will be the fourth Syncrolift® to be operated by the Suez Canal Authority, who have almost 60 years of operating experience on their first three installations at Ismailia, Suez and Port Tawfik."

This order is also the sixth Syncrolift® installation in Egypt - the other two are with the Egyptian Navy - and brings Syncrolift's total worldwide installation to 221. Syncrolift's long-standing relationship with the Suez Canal Authority began in 1977 and the Armant order follows the 1981 Syncrolift® commissioning at Port Tawfik, and the recent installation of an Advanced Technology Loading Articulated Shiplifts (ATLAS) system at Port Tawfik. ATLAS is a load-monitoring analysis system designed to provide information to the Dockmaster on vessel intake.