Keppel Cebu facility to remain closed

Keppel Philippines Marine Inc. said its facility in Cebu will remain closed indefinitely after business inquiries from both the local and international markets remain weak.

Keppel said there is stiff competition in the international market from the Chinese shipyards to manufacture new vessels, while orders from the domestic market, mostly for repairs or for regular drydocking, have also been reduced. “In view of the current market conditions, there are no plans to resume operations of Keppel Cebu Shipyard for the foreseeable future,” Keppel said in its report.

Keppel has closed the operations in Cebu starting the second quarter of year, despite earlier pronouncements that it will only shift its operation from ship repair to ship building. Keppel Cebu initially reduced the workforce at the end of the second quarter and offered voluntary resignation package.

There were at least 279 regular employees of the shipyard displaced mostly workers such as welders, machine operators, painters and carpenter. Keppel Cebu is the largest ship care facility in central part of the Philippines and the first shipyard in the Philippines to be ISO 9002-certified.