Referring to the tremendous growth in the number of LNG carriers that have now come onstream and would subsequently need to be drydocked, ABS global marine vp Peter Fitzpatrick said: “Singapore has a growth market because LNG ships require that reliable on-time delivery in drydocking that Singapore has been doing and it’s going to continue.”
He continued: “So I see that as a growth area for these vessels; it could just be for drydocking or in doing modifications where there has been some major work done on LNG ships here in Singapore. (The city) as a hub for improving vessel efficiency and drydocking is key and will continue to be.”
BW LNG md Yngvil Eriksson Asheim added that the willingness of the yards in Singapore such as Keppel to be co-developers was also refreshing.
“Between the shipyards in Singapore there is a wealth of experience in LNG (but) it’s not down to the shipyards alone,” said Keppel Offshore & Marine ceo Chris Ong. “Actually the maritime cluster in Singapore is what makes the difference; it is key for not only all the shipyards but also the SMEs and sub-contactors and suppliers to gear up to deal with the increase in trade volume in this area,” he added.
“As a shipyard we can look at this as a service to work with the end customer to see how we can enable the gap in supply to the customer to be filled. Because Singapore has that ambition and the governmental support to develop that area,” Ong concluded.
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