STEng – BT

ST Engg’s US shipyard wins $185m contract

ST Engineering’s shipyard in the United States – VT Halter Marine – has been awarded a shipbuilding contract worth about $185 million by Honolulu-based Pasha Hawaii to build a roll-on/roll-off car truck carrier.

On top of that, the shipyard also signed an option agreement to construct a second vessel with some scope variation for a base price of about $175 million.

Work on the car truck carrier that was ordered will start immediately and the ship is expected to be delivered in the second half of 2013. The ship will ply the Hawaii and US West Coast trade as a weekly service.

This is the second such carrier built by VT Halter Marine for Pasha Hawaii.

‘Building a second ship has always been part of our organisation’s plan. The level of enthusiasm and customer support we received when we deployed our first vessel was well beyond our expectations,’ said George Pasha IV, the chief executive officer of Pasha Hawaii.

‘Our second vessel will both better serve the Hawaii/mainland market and also provide increased frequency and superior reliability. A weekly sailing will also allow us to present even more tailored transportation solutions to our clients.’

The contract for the first vessel, the MV Jean Anne, was awarded to the yard in 2003 and entered service in March 2005. It was designated ‘Ship of the Year’ by American Ship Review in her first year of service.

‘This contract is an extremely important one for our US operations as it reflects VT Halter Marine’s strong credibility and track record among its customers,’ said Ng Sing Chan, president of ST Marine, the marine arm of ST Engineering. The contract is not expected to have any material impact on the per-share consolidated net tangible assets and earnings of ST Engineering for the current financial year.