ST Marine announced today that its US shipyard, VT Halter Marine is ready with its shiprepair offering with the arrival of a 12,000 MT Floating Dry Dock, transported by a heavy lift vessel from the Philippines.
The dry dock is part of an overall expansion plan to the south yard in Pascagoula, Mississippi where VT Halter Marine is adding the repair facility for semi-submersible drilling rigs and Panamax-size ships.
VT Halter Marine will now have a similar business model as in Singapore, having both newbuild and repair capabilities. The addition of the Floating Dry Dock to VT Halter Marine will grow the company organically into the shiprepair business and will start a new stream of revenue to its existing newbuild business.
The dock will establish VT Halter Marine and give it the required track record and experience for ship repair operations. It will also benefit the U.S. Gulf Coast Ship Repair Capability, as it will be the newest addition to any existing facility in the region. VT Halter Marine will now be able to service not only the repair needs of its existing newbuild customers, it will also cater to new customers and most likely will more than double its customer base for shiprepair business.
“ We are pleased with this development as the arrival of the Floating Dry Dock heralds our entry into the shiprepair business in the US market. Besides being able to better serve our existing customers, we are also looking forward to serving the larger shipping community in the Gulf area, ” said NG Sing Chan, President, ST Marine.
VT Halter Marine expects to create as many as 400 new jobs with the development of this new facility. The yard expansion plan includes machine shops, electrical shops and the newly delivered dry dock.
[mappress]
Press Release, May 17, 2013