Malaysia: Nam Cheong Secures Contract to Build Three AHTS Vessels

According to the Seatrade-Asia, Nam Cheong shipbuilder seated in Malaysia is about to fortify its position on the market, since it managed to avail of the increasing demand from the oil and gas sector and win a $36.8m contract to build three anchor handling towing supply (AHTS) vessels.

The $36.8m worth contract has been secured by developing offshore support service providers from Singapore. The vessels ought to be ready and delivered in the second and third quarters of 2012.

The contract will have a significant effect on the company’s revenue in 2012 fiscal year, because with the new course of events Nam Cheong’s order book equals to circa RM628 million ($257.6 million). This entails 12 vessels which are to be delivered to their rightful owners by the end of 2012.

“High, resilient oil prices averaging above $100 per barrel for the past few months has continued to spur oil majors to increase exploration and production spending, allowing Nam Cheong to benefit from the increased in demand for offshore support vessels,” executive director at Nam Cheong, Leong Seng Keat pointed out.

“In addition, our vessels, which are constructed under the build-to-stock programme, offer significantly lesser lead time between order and delivery and place us in a sweet spot where we will be able to respond swiftly to the hike in demand,” he added.

Destination of two of the 5,000 bhp AHTS vessels will be Asia-Pacific, while the third vessel will be deployed to South America region.

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Shipbuilding Tribune Staff, March 29, 2012; Image: Nam Cheong