Brunei has begun industrial shipbuilding at Anson International with the construction of Hull 211, a 55-metre aluminium crew transfer vessel that will transport up to 80 personnel to offshore oil and gas platforms.
The vessel is being built at Anson’s integrated shipyard at Pulau Muara Besar in partnership with Singapore’s Fast Offshore Supply (FOS). Construction is expected to take 20 months, following a commencement ceremony held on April 27.
The ceremony was attended by Minister at the Prime Minister’s Office and Minister of Finance and Economy II YB Dato Seri Setia Dr. Awg Hj Md Amin Liew Abdullah and Minister of Transport and Infocommunications YB Pg Dato Seri Setia Shamhary Pg Dato Paduka Hj Mustapha.
Shipbuilding is one of six core activities at Anson, alongside ship repair and recycling, quayside solutions, marine construction and decommissioning.
Ship repair and maintenance, as well as general supply base activities, are targeted to commence before September, while the yard is already ready for decommissioning activities.
Anson Operations Manager Abu Syahmi Abd Rahman said that outside supply base services, most of the company’s activities are new territory for the country, especially decommissioning for the oil and gas sector.
Services undertaken at the integrated yard could help capture $10 million to $25 million annually, with potential to scale further by catering to neighbouring and regional demand.
“Decommissioning is what happens when offshore oil and gas structures reach the end of their lifespan. They have to be safely dismantled, and the site has to be restored,” Abu said.
“Anson’s role is to support that process from the yard, where materials from offshore structures can be received, dismantled, segregated and processed for recycling, reuse or proper disposal.”
The Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) facilitated the opportunity to build and operate the integrated yard as a pioneering project of the Brunei Darussalam Maritime Cluster (BDMC), a sub-development within the services sector, one of Brunei’s five priority diversification sectors under its Economic Blueprint.
Anson’s joint venture consists of local lead partner Qaswa Holdings of the Adinin Group of Companies; the Ministry of Finance and Economy’s Strategic Development Capital Fund; and two international partners.
