KUALA LUMPUR: Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC) having served the needs of the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) for decades, has expanded its scope to support the full-range of defence and security requirements for both Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the army.
BHIC executive deputy chairman and managing director Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor said the company is also committed to enhance its ship-building expertise for the defence sector beyond its regular clientele.
“We are now involved in servicing and maintaining army weapons and defence radar. These are in addition to building new assets for RMN, namely the littoral mission ships (LMS) and new generation patrol vessels (NGPV),” he told NST Business in an exclusive interview, recently.
Ahmad Ramli said BHIC would want to reinforce its capabilities to serve RMN’s “15-to-5” transformation programme, benefiting not only the company but also local maritime industry.
The 15-to-5 programme involves a reduction of the Navy’s 15 classes of vessels to five — which are LMS, multi-role support ship, littoral combat ships, NGPV and submarines.
“The development of the LMS and the second batch of the NGPV features very high local content, involving high levels of technical skills among local workers,” he added, noting that BHIC owns the designs of the vessels and has spent considerably in developing human capital throughout the various phases of their development.
BHIC is building four LMS with its sub-contractor — a Chinese shipbuilding company. Two units are being built in China and the first unit will be delivered in mid-2019 there, while another two will be built at Boustead Naval Shipyard in Lumut. The LMS contract is valued at RM1.17 billion.
BHIC had also successfully delivered six NGPV in 2012, when its parent company Boustead Group took over works for the contract secured in 1998 by the original contractor of the NGPV project, Penang Shipbuilding and Construction Industries Bhd (PSCI).
Boustead Group acquired a major stake in PSCI in 2005.
Ahmad Ramli said BHIC is currently undertaking the second phase of the NGPV project and aims to develop and nurture local vendors to participate in the programme, underlining its commitment as a government-linked company (GLC) to the Vendor Development Programmme.
“We want to create an environment in which the maritime defence industry can benefit from the programme. If possible, we also want to maximise the local content. This can be achieved given the talent available in the defence and in shipbuilding / ship repair industries,” he added.
Ahmad Ramli said BHIC is also keen to promote its products overseas, and efforts are already underway to engage with potential clients to offer several types of vessels and services at competitive prices and rates.
“We are already paving the way towards having serious engagements with potential clients as well as strategic partners to promote our products abroad and to explore new products that can be jointly developed.
“There are foreign groups that have been talking to us and expressing interest to establish potential partnerships," he said.
Ahmad Ramli said BHIC recently secured several small government contracts mainly in repair and maintenance works for commercial vessels at its shipyards in Penang and Langkawi.
“In Lumut, the focus is more on naval and security agencies’ vessels, while in Penang and Langkawi, our yards undertake repair and maintenance for marine leisure crafts such as sailing boats and yachts, ferries as well as commercial vessels,” he added.
Ahmad Ramli said with its domestic track record, BHIC is confident of its capability to market its products and services not only in the South East Asian region but also the global market.