Muhibbah Marine Engineering Sdn Bhd, is expected to secure five new shipbuilding contracts valued more than $27m over the next 12 months, driven by strong demand from the offshore oil and gas sector. According to Business Times- Malaysia, Muhibbah Marine expects more orders from local and international shipping firms as shipbuilding capacity has become tighter globally and there is active demand for support vessels for oil and gas exploration. Muhibbah Marine is actively participating in exhibitions in the Middle East where the market demand for OSVs, meant for servicing the oil and gas industry, is on the rise. Demand for OSVs will continue to increase worldwide at least for the next three years with an ageing world fleet and improvement in offshore oil and gas exploration and production.
Muhibbah Marine is taking advantage of the International Maritime Organization's requirement for single-hull vessels to be replaced with double-hull (or double-skinned) vessels, which has created a huge demand for new shipbuilding plans. The shipbuilder also expects to benefit from Petroliam Nasional Bhd's efforts to encourage more local shipowners to build their vessels locally.
The shipbuilding firm is working on about $38m worth of contracts to construct and commission two 60-km straight supply vessels for Tanjung Offshore and a client from Brunei. The rest have been delivered within schedule.
To support its projected growth in
new shipbuilding orders, especially for OSVs, Muhibbah Marine plans to expand its shipyard, strategically located in Teluk Gong, Port Klang, which has 650m of water frontage with a water depth of up to 18 m. It currently operates a shipyard on an eight-hectare site, which is capable of contracting up to seven vessels measuring 120m in length at any one time. With the expansion, Muhibbah Marine will be able to construct 9,000- to 10,000-ton vessels measuring up to 160m in length to meet the growing demand. (Source: Business Times- Malaysia)