Malaysias first fully-automated shipyard

Malaysia’s first fully-automated shipyard will be in operation at the Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas and Maritime Industrial Park in 2013. It will be part of a RM4.8 billion project that comprises a fabrication and engineering yard, and marine repair and ship-building facilities on a 320-hectare site.

Vantech Dockyard (M) Sdn Bhd’s managing director Azlan Sidol said the company would build and operate the facilities under a joint-venture effort with two South Korean companies, namely Daewoo and Handong. “The construction of the shipyard will begin next year and it takes three years to complete,” he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of the industrial park here today.

Azlan said the company had already received advance bookings for the construction of eight ships worth RM7 billion. The bookings, he said, came from local companies but enquiries have also been received from neighbouring countries, the Middle East and Europe. Azlan also said that the company planned to cooperate with a leading university from South Korea to set up an academy for shipbuilding in Tanjung Agas.

“The academy is an important component as we required about 8,000 workers with 30 percent of them being engineers,” he said.

The company, he added, will specialise in the construction of large ships weighing more than 100,000 tonnes, particularly LNG tankers. According to Azlan, Vantech Dockyard’s facilities will be capable of repairing 100 ships annually.