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CONSORTIUM of predominantly Norwegian companies will
infuse additional capital to its Subic Bay facility,
intending to transform it into a shipyard and allow them
to build vessels instead of subcontracting it to its
partners.
Subic
Bay Shipyard Consortium (SBSC) will infuse about P200
million in its facility at the former US Navy ship
repair area, making it Subic Bay’s fourth-largest
shipbuilding facility after Hanjin Heavy Industries
Corp.-Philippines, Subic Shipyard and Subic Dock.
Construction of the new shipyard will begin by September
and will be completed in three to five years, according
to company’s president and chief executive Nils-Ottar
Lonoy.
The
executive added that the facility will use a slipway and
skid system to accommodate vessels of up to 90 meters in
length for dry docking and repair.
“We
really see the necessity to upgrade the domestic fleet,”
Lonoy said in a statement.
The
company will also be conducting skills training for 500
Filipino ship-repair workers, mainly welders, mechanics
and marine fabricators, for the project. The company
already has more than a hundred workers.
Currently, the SBSC is bidding for marine building
projects all over the world, with most of the
construction requirements subcontracted to the
facilities of its partners.
Delta
Production Philippines Corp. and Global Terminals, both
locators at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, are
key coordinators for the consortium. SBSC’s other
partners include foreign companies Electruck, MAM
Engineering Services, Subic Dock and Subic Coordinates &
Prime Solutions.
Services
offered by the consortium include project management,
manpower for computer-aided drafting design, engineers
and supervisors. Meanwhile, Det Norske Veritas (DNV)
will be one of the classifying bodies for the projects,
along with Lloyd’s Register and American Bureau
Shipping. DNV, founded in Norway in 1864, currently
classifies more than 5,000 ships representing 16 percent
of the world’s fleet in terms of tonnage. |
