THE Sembawang group will invest US$50 million in expanding and upgrading its yard facilities to sharpen its competitiveness in shipbuilding, repair and rig building.
The funds will go into building a 700-metre pier to accommodate three additional VLCCs (very large crude carriers), berthing facilities along Sungei Sembawang in Malaysia to take up to eight 180-metre vessels, as well as its corporate headquarters.
This investment represents the second half of a $100 million plan to equip Sembawang Shipyard, Sembawang Bethlehem (Sembeth) and Sembawang Engineering for growth in the next decade.
The first phase started last year after Sembawang Shipyard successfully placed out 27 million new shares to raise $216 million.
Mr Tan Mong-seng, managing director of Sembawang Shipyard, said the expansion and upgrading was a strategic move.
''In this business, you must always look one or two years down the road since any such plans have a gestation period of between 12 and 18 months,'' he said.