Sembawang Shipyard gets Royal Caribbean contract

DECEMBER 10, 2012 — Sembcorp Marine’s subsidiary Sembawang Shipyard has been awarded a Favored Customer Contract (FCC) from Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL), USA, to provide ship repair, revitalisation, upgrading and related marine services for its fleet of 41 cruise ships. Royal Caribbean operates the Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, Pullmantur, Azamara Cruises and CDF Croisières de France cruise brands.

From left, Kevin Douglas, VP Technical Projects, Newbuildings, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Ms Wong Lee-Lin, Executive Director, Sembawang Shipyard Pte Ltd, Svein Taklo, VP, Marine Operations, Royal Caribbean International

The contract was signed in Miami by Kevin Douglas, Vice President of Technical Projects and Newbuildings for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., Mr. Svein Taklo, Vice President, Marine Operations for Royal Caribbean International, and Ms. Wong Lee-Lin, Executive Director, Sembawang Shipyard.

It commits the repairs, revitalization and upgrading of the Royal Caribbean fleet of passenger ships cruising in the Singapore region to Sembawang Shipyard. It also commits to joint planning, information and experience sharing, thus leveraging complementary resources to achieve sustainable targets in the areas of HSE (Health, Safety and Environment), logistics management, quality, cost-efficiency and onschedule deliveries, which are key performance indicators for high quality cruise vessels maintenance.

The signing of this Favoured Customer Contract will include two cruise ships calling at Sembawang Shipyard for major revitalization and a third ship for drydocking and repairs between January 2013 to 2014 with total estimated sales ranging from S$50 million to S$70 million, depending on the scope of repairs and upgrading packages of the ships.

Sembcorp Marine says the milestone long-term maintenance and refit contract with Royal Caribbean will further boost Singapore’s status as a major Asian cruise hub and reinforce Sembawang Shipyard’s reputation as one of the world’s leading shipyards in the highly specialised segment of cruise ships repair, refurbishment and conversion.

“The selection of Sembawang Shipyard as our partner in the Far East is in line with Royal Caribbean’s strategy to grow our cruise business in Asia as we see Asia, in particular, China and Singapore as our key markets,” said Mr. Douglas. “Sembawang Shipyard is recognized as one of the leading technically competent and efficient repair yards in the world for cruise vessels repair and upgrading. Our recent positive experiences with Sembawang Shipyard which included the successful revitalization of Royal Caribbean International’s Rhapsody of the Seas, and our observation of the dedication and commitment shown by the shipyard’s team, convinced Royal Caribbean that we have found the right long-term partner who understands the stringent requirements of our company. As such, we are confident that this newly forged partnership with Sembawang Shipyard will benefit both organizations in the planning and execution of our dry docking and revitalisation work in a safe, timely and cost effective way.”

“We are honored to be the chosen partner of Royal Caribbean Cruises, a world-class cruise ship owner and operator,” said Ms. Wong. “Sembawang Shipyard has over the recent few years, focused strongly on the development of our fast-growing niche markets, one of which is the cruise ship repairs/upgrades and conversion market. Since the 1970s, Sembawang has successfully repaired and upgraded more than 150 passenger ships. We have developed a ‘cruise ship culture’ and a workforce with the right attitude, training and experience to successfully deliver cruise ships on schedule and to high quality, health, environment and safety standards. We have worked very well with the Royal Caribbean team on several ships and we are thus delighted with this award from Royal Caribbean. We thank Royal Caribbean for its confidence in Sembawang Shipyard’s ability to meet Royal Caribbean’s high standards. We look forward to a long-term partnership which will deliver visible mutual  benefits and continuous improvements to both companies.”