Eversendai liftboat begins sea trial
RAS AL KHAIMAH: Eversendai Corp Bhd majority stakeholder Tan Sri AK Nathan believes the Vahana Aryan ( pic), its first completed liftboat, is spoilt for choice in obtaining a charter contract and is confident of securing one within the next two to three months.
“We have not signed any charter contract yet but the number of inquiries and opportunities that are there for us to capitalise on is very high,” he said at the launch of the vessel’s sea trial at the Ras Al Khaimah fabrication yard in RAK Maritime City on Wednesday.
Once the sea trial is completed, the Aryan, whose delivery was delayed from the third quarter of last year, will be delivered to Vahana OffShore (M) Sdn Bhd at the end of April.
The liftboat, which is used for the maintenance of offshore platforms, was fully engineered and constructed at Eversendai’s Ras Al Khaimah fabrication facility. It marks the first time a Malaysian company has built a liftboat, while Vahana has the distinction of being the first local company to own one.
A secured charter contract would come as welcome news to investors of Eversendai. Kenanga Research highlighted in a Jan 18 report that there is a risk of impairment in FY19 should Vahana fail to secure a charter within 12 months of the Aryan’s delivery given that financing banks will only release funds to Eversendai upon confirmation of a charter contract.
Vahana commissioned the two liftboats named after AK Nathan’s grandchildren - Aryan and Arjun - in 2014 for a contract sum of RM580mil. However, both lift boats have experienced delays in their construction owing to stringent certification requirements.
Nevertheless, AK Nathan believes the Aryan has opened the doors to greater opportunities for Eversendai’s O&G business, which the steel and building construction company ventured into several years ago. According to him, the process of building the liftboat was integral to the 9COM certification received by the facility in a short span of three years.
The certification, highly coveted in the O&G sector, pre-qualifies the facility to undertake the projects of Saudi Arabia’s national oil company Saudi Aramco, which led to Eversendai bagging a contract in November last year.
The construction of the second liftboat, named the Arjun, which AK Nathan said was about 30% completed, has been temporarily put on hold as the fabrication yard’s resources are focused on completing the construction of jackets and piles for the Saudi Aramco project.