Otto Marine unfazed by China competition

It leverages on the Chinese yards' cost-efficiency and higher productivity for its own gain, says CEOSingaporeOFFSHORE marine group Otto Marine is unfazed by the competition from China's more cost-efficient yards in the building of offshore support vessels (OSVs).迷你倉出租Although Chinese yards are more productive in building vessels at a cheaper rate, quality may often be a key differential when compared with yards in other parts of the world, said Otto's CEO Garrick Stanley.Quality is what yards in other parts of the world have to focus on as it is difficult for vessel builders to compete with their Chinese counterparts on cost due to the uniquely attractive financing deals that they offer."The financing terms they offer are 5 per cent as downpayment, another 5 per cent after 12 months and (the remaining) 90 per cent on delivery. Those are very attractive terms," Mr Stanley said. On the contrary, in Singapore the financing packages could come in the form of a variety of structures - either 20 per cent on downpayment plus 10 per cent after 12 months and 70 per cent on delivery; or progressively 20 per cent in five payments; or even 30 per cent upfront and 70 per cent at the end.But Chinese yards have come a long way, Mr Stanley acknowledged, as there are now yards there that can build high-end "Norwegian quality" type vessels, so quality may not make a significant difference going forward.Mr Stanley was speaking to the media yesterday at the naming ceremony of one of Otto's Anchor Handling Tug Supply (AHTS) vessels at its Batam shipyard.He added that Otto is not threatened by the lower p迷你倉ice and higher productive competition from China, and in fact leverages on those that are able to provide both competitive pricing and quality for its own gain. This is because the group's focus is not on building for third-party vendors unlike most of the Chinese yards. Instead, it builds vessels mainly for its own use and to support its business needs serving offshore clients.Since the vessels Otto builds are mainly for its own use, Mr Stanley said that the company looks at the best deal it can get, and if China offers cheaper options for its high specification vessels, then it will choose to build from there. In fact, Otto said that at present it has about 12 Chinese shipyards in its portfolio of partners there, to help build its vessels.Despite vessel building in China, the group's Batam shipyard is still active in shipbuilding as seen yesterday, when the GO Phoenix, a 24,000bhp AHTS vessel - one of its biggest and most complex - was unveiled. This is the second of four such vessels that the group has committed to build, with the next due next month and the last in January 2014.The new orders underpin the group's optimism at the outlook for the industry in the coming year, Mr Stanley told BT, as there is a huge demand for AHTS vessels picking up in Brazil and the Asia-Pacific region, in addition to the North Sea.In this region, the group is bullish about growing demand from Australia and Malaysia and, in particular, Indonesia. With its Batam yard, Otto is well-placed to benefit from the Indonesian government's requirement for local content and capitalise on higher demand there.儲存倉