Malaysian shipping industry to remain strong this year

The Malaysian shipping industry is expected to remain strong this year, supported by high demand for small and medium-sized ships, balancing off the decline in orders for tankers and container vessels. Senior Vice-President - Industry Intelligence, Malaysia Industry Group for High Technology (MIGHT) Datuk Ir Kamarulzaman Zainal said medium-sized ships are now increasingly in demand, particularly from the oil and gas industry, both within and outside the country. "We foresee that for these type of vessels that are our focus, there will be a flurry of new orders, noting too that under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Petronas is responsible for finding deep sea oil wells and those that are marginal oil fields within the waters of the country. "This underlines the need more complex medium-sized ships which we are capable of manufacturing at local shipyards," he told Bernama. Kamarulzaman said last year, RM7 billion had been generated from the export of medium-sized ships to regional countries, Europe, the Middle East and Australia. He added that in this regard, the potential to expand the export industry was vast, amid the slowdown in demand for large vessels caused by surplus tonnage of container ships and oil tankers in China. Although slightly impacted, Kamarulzaman said the industry overall was still showing growth, albeit slowly, supported by the National Maritime Plan launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak at the LIMA 2011. While officiating the recent LIMA 2013, Najib unveiled the Maritime Industry Report (SBSR 2013)prepared by MIGHT. In that report, MIGHT said the maritime industry comprised shipbuilding, ship repairs and production of equipment. It also said the Shipbuilding/Ship Repair Industry plan had been included as a Entry Point Project (EPP)under the services sector and which supports Malaysia's development as a shipbuilding and ship repair hub. The EPP in question had been implemented by two key SBSR industry players, Boustead Heavy Industry Corporation Bhd and Shin Yang Shipping Corporation Bhd, assisted by the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) and MIGHT as the EPP driver. Kamarulzaman said by 2020, MIGHT had set the target for the maritime industry to post a profit of up to RM19 billion, while offering 55,000 job opportunities to locals.
Source: Bernama