Sembawang Shipyard officially opened its new West Yard expansion yesterday, doubling its fabrication capacity with a valuable 50 per cent gain in yard space as global offshore oil and gas demand continues to fill out Singapore shipyards' order books.
Bigger and better: Facilities in Sembawang's newly developed West Yard (circled) will help satisfy soaring orders
The expansion was notable not only because of its timing amid unprecedented demand that has given SembCorp Marine (SembMarine) - the world's second largest rig builder - a record order book, now standing at $550 million, but because the yard nearly ended up being re-zoned for residential use in the mid-1990s.
'This West Yard opening is our way of saying we are here to stay to provide bigger and better services for our partners,' said Sembawang Shipyard MD, PK Ong at the opening.
The new addition of about 21 hectares follows SembMarine's announcement last year that it had acquired the former Sembawang Bethelem's adjacent properties, including land, workshops, berths and other buildings along Admiralty Road East and West. The group spent $130 million to acquire the land and another $50 million to enhance the facilities, according to Mr Ong.
The enlarged Sembawang Shipyard now comprises about 61 hectares, along with another 25 hectares occupied by SMOE. In terms of fabrication, it will more than double Sembawang's capacity, said Mr Ong.
He added that the expanded facilities - which include a new 30,000 sq m slipway and newbuilding site, currently occupied by a jack-up rig being built for Aban Offshore - will be used for the shipyard's overall activities.
Describing it as a 'very important day' for the shipyard, VP Shipping for Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Ltd, Jan M Kopernicki, praised Sembawang's reputation for quality, saying the yard was 'one we're very proud to have an alliance with and had one for quite a long time'.
Shell's repair and refit alliance with the yard was one of the first in the industry, which since 1999 has seen 72 Shell vessels pass through the yard. Sembawang now has similar partnerships with BP Shipping, BHP Billiton and Jo Tankers as well as long-term agreements with TMT, Eitzen Group, Exmar/Euronav Group, Conoco-Philips, V-Ships and ASP Group.
The expansion also added other facilities including hull fabrication and outfitting workshops, three fabrication and assembly travelling shelters, environmentally friendly enclosed blasting and painting chambers, open fabrication ground and dedicated storage area for owners' spares and equipment. Eight new crawler cranes have also been added, along with new project office facilities.
Upgrading is also taking place at Sembawang's Main Yard with the building of new hull workshops, additional cryogenic workshop for LNG vessel repairs, new cranes and a new four-storey office block.
The new office will also house the clients' site teams overseeing the building process and will feature improved facilities, including heavy-duty IT infrastructure crucial in today's era of electronic transmission of plans and drawings.
The shipyard also recently acquired a new 13,600 sq m pipe fabrication workshop in Senoko, which will boost the yard's pipe fabrication capacity for copper, super duplex, titanium and steel piping.
Bigger and better: Facilities in Sembawang's newly developed West Yard (circled) will help satisfy soaring orders
The expansion was notable not only because of its timing amid unprecedented demand that has given SembCorp Marine (SembMarine) - the world's second largest rig builder - a record order book, now standing at $550 million, but because the yard nearly ended up being re-zoned for residential use in the mid-1990s.
'This West Yard opening is our way of saying we are here to stay to provide bigger and better services for our partners,' said Sembawang Shipyard MD, PK Ong at the opening.
The new addition of about 21 hectares follows SembMarine's announcement last year that it had acquired the former Sembawang Bethelem's adjacent properties, including land, workshops, berths and other buildings along Admiralty Road East and West. The group spent $130 million to acquire the land and another $50 million to enhance the facilities, according to Mr Ong.
The enlarged Sembawang Shipyard now comprises about 61 hectares, along with another 25 hectares occupied by SMOE. In terms of fabrication, it will more than double Sembawang's capacity, said Mr Ong.
He added that the expanded facilities - which include a new 30,000 sq m slipway and newbuilding site, currently occupied by a jack-up rig being built for Aban Offshore - will be used for the shipyard's overall activities.
Describing it as a 'very important day' for the shipyard, VP Shipping for Shell International Trading and Shipping Company Ltd, Jan M Kopernicki, praised Sembawang's reputation for quality, saying the yard was 'one we're very proud to have an alliance with and had one for quite a long time'.
Shell's repair and refit alliance with the yard was one of the first in the industry, which since 1999 has seen 72 Shell vessels pass through the yard. Sembawang now has similar partnerships with BP Shipping, BHP Billiton and Jo Tankers as well as long-term agreements with TMT, Eitzen Group, Exmar/Euronav Group, Conoco-Philips, V-Ships and ASP Group.
The expansion also added other facilities including hull fabrication and outfitting workshops, three fabrication and assembly travelling shelters, environmentally friendly enclosed blasting and painting chambers, open fabrication ground and dedicated storage area for owners' spares and equipment. Eight new crawler cranes have also been added, along with new project office facilities.
Upgrading is also taking place at Sembawang's Main Yard with the building of new hull workshops, additional cryogenic workshop for LNG vessel repairs, new cranes and a new four-storey office block.
The new office will also house the clients' site teams overseeing the building process and will feature improved facilities, including heavy-duty IT infrastructure crucial in today's era of electronic transmission of plans and drawings.
The shipyard also recently acquired a new 13,600 sq m pipe fabrication workshop in Senoko, which will boost the yard's pipe fabrication capacity for copper, super duplex, titanium and steel piping.