MALAYSIA`S FIRST FULLY-AUTOMATED SHIPYARD TO OPERATE IN 2013

PEKAN (Malaysia), June 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's first fully-automated
shipyard will be in operation at the Tanjung Agas Oil and Gas and Maritime
Industrial Park here in 2013.

It will be part of a RM4.8 billion (US$1=RM3.58) project that comprises a
fabrication and engineering yard, and marine repair and ship-building facilities
on a 320-hectare site.

Vantech Dockyard (M) Sdn Bhd's managing director Azlan Sidol said the
company would build and operate the facilities under a joint-venture effort with
two South Korean giants, namely Daewoo and Handong.

"The construction of the shipyard will begin next year and it takes three
years to complete," he told reporters after the ground-breaking ceremony of the
industrial park here Saturday.

Pekan is located on the banks of the Pahang River 50 km south of east coast
state of Pahang's capital Kuantan.

Azlan said the company had already received advance bookings for the
construction of eight ships worth RM7 billion.

The bookings, he said, came from local companies but enquiries have also
been received from neighbouring countries, the Middle East and Europe.

Azlan also said that the company planned to cooperate with a leading
university from South Korea to set up an academy for shipbuilding in Tanjung
Agas.

"The academy is an important component as we required about 8,000 workers
with 30 percent of them being engineers," he said.

The company, he added, will specialise in the construction of large ships
weighing more than 100,000 metric tonnes, particularly liquefied natural gas
(LNG) tankers.

According to Azlan, Vantech Dockyard's facilities will be capable of
repairing 100 ships annually.

"We will also build other types of vessels, including battleships if there
is a demand from customers," he said.

-- BERNAMA