Otto Marine Starts Building Tankers

In light of a slow oil and gas market, the Singapore-based shipbuilding company Otto Marine has decided to expand its portfolio and turn to other shipbuilding segments.

Namely, the offshore shipbuilder has secured three newbuilding contracts for an oil tanker and two ferries, worth a total of USD 23 million.

The 6,500 long tons deadweight (LTDW) product oil tanker will be constructed at Otto’s shipyard for an undisclosed Indonesian company.

Featuring a length of 109 meters, the vessel will be able to carry 8,300 cubic meters of oil.

Additionally, the shipyard will build two 1,200-gross tonne ferries for an Indonesian state-owned enterprise.

According to Michael See, Group CEO, the vessels should be delivered to their owners in the fourth quarter of 2017.

Otto Marine expects that these orders will positively contribute to the company’s financial performance for FY2016 and FY2017.

“As the weak oil prices continue to weigh on oil and gas, and offshore and marine sectors, we put relentless efforts in creating revenue streams across our business segments, including diversification of our business exposure by offering extended vessel portfolio at the shipyard,” See added.

The announcement comes only two weeks after Otto Marine signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MOU) with an unnamed port operator to explore the potential development of a fabrication and marine facility located in Batam.

The facility is expected to be fully operational by July 2017.