ABG close to bagging European order

According to industry sources, ABG Shipyard is close to bagging a $350 million European order. However, ABG Shipyard management has said that it cannot comment on the specific deal.

Anything above $360 million would be the largest order for ABG Shipyard because the last order they got was close to $360 million from a Thailand-based company. Reliable sources say that the order is from a European company and the order will be executed from a new plant, which will be commissioned in 2008. The company has been working on this greenfield project for the past 6-8 months and it will be commissioned in April 2008. The new facility will have capacity to deliver 12 vessels, initially. The exact size and nature of the order is not known.

There are also talks about the company being close to buying Western India Shipyard. The company?s management said that they are in the race, but nothing is finalized. Sources say that the deal could go through later this month.