Integrated marine logistics company Marco Polo Marine announced, on June 14, that it intends to extend its dry dock 1 from 150 metres to 240 metres.
The extension will boost the group’s capacity for ship repairs by 20%.
The move is meant to improve the group’s bottom line over the longer term, as its ship repair operations have been a growing source of recurring income.
According to the group, some 50% to 70% of its ship repair operations business has come from repeat customers.
For the 1HFY2021 ended March, the group’s ship building and repair operations business saw a 34% y-o-y increase in revenue to $11.7 million, accounting for some 55% of the group’s overall top line.
The construction of the dock will begin in July and is slated to be completed by January 2022.
The work will be financed by internal resources.
The dock will operate as usual during the period of construction.
The group says its current utilisation rate of its three dry docks stands at 80%.
The group’s plan to extend its dock comes as demand for ship repairs remain “robust” after it expanded its customer base beyond Offshore Vessels to include more merchant vessels such as containerships, bulkers and tankers.
“With ship repair demand continuing to increase, and our division operating near full capacity, the extension of our dry dock comes at an opportune time. We expect the dock extension to start contributing to the group’s bottom line from 2QFY2022,” says Sean Lee, CEO of Marco Polo.
Shares in Marco Polo closed 0.3 cent higher or 11.5% up at 2.9 cents on June 14.
