One of Sarawak's most prominent shipyards, Yong Choo Kui (YCK) Shipyard is now ready to take more specialised orders from the oil and gas industry from around the world.Executive director Daniel WY Yong said the shipyard had now received the demanding Nipon Kaiji Kyokai (NHK) certification for welding procedures."This is another milestone for us. This certification is now mandatory globally to ensure not only the high quality but safety of any vessels," he said.
"To us, it means we have taken another proactive step to upgrade our quality and safety standards to meet the demands of our international clients," Yong told reporters after witnessing the presentation of the certificate, here today.On new projects, he said it had received quite a number of inquiries from potential customers.In September 2006, it had supplied a similar US$4.5 million vessel to Mumbai-based Epsom Shipping Pvt. Ltd.YCK Shipyard took one year to build the high technology 45-metre MV Atla with a gross tonnage of 870 tonnes, used in support services for divers in oil rigs.Currently, the shipyard is building two tugboats costing US$4 million each for an Iraqi company. One is scheduled to be delivered in June 2007 and the other, the following year.YCK Shipyard is capable of building about 10 vessels of various designs and purpose per year. Its markets are Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Taiwan, China, South Africa, India and New Zealand.