Growing demand for offshore support vessels (OSV) has helped Marco Polo Marine post a 47% increase in third-quarter gross profit.
The Singapore-listed OSV and shipbuilding player posted a gross profit of SGD 14.2m ($10.4m) for the period from April to June 2023 versus SGD 9.7m a year ago.
Marco Polo Marine said the OSV market continues to recover driven by favourable energy prices, increased offshore field development, and supply-side constraints.
“There has been a notable increase in demand for OSVs during the quarter, leading to an eight-percentage point year-on-year rise in utilisation rates, reaching a 92% operating capacity for the period,” the company said.
“The contributions from PT Pelayaran Nasional Bina Buana Raya (BBR) and Taiwan-based offshore renewables service PKR Offshore [PKRO] have further boosted vessel charter and utilisation rates from March and May of 2022, respectively.”
Marco Polo Marine said its shipyard segment also had a strong performance in the third quarter driven by stronger demand from end users.
“Shipbuilding and ship-repair activity ramped up for the quarter with average utilisation rates for ship repairs operating at nearly full capacity,” it said.
“The segment’s shipyard was operating at an average utilisation rate of 93%, showing a nine-percentage point increase compared to the same period last year.”
Looking ahead, Marco Polo Marine said it expects its OSVs to maintain a high average utilisation rate, with the strong take-up stemming from both the offshore wind farm and oil and gas industries.
Meanwhile, it added that the outlook for the shipyard segment continues to remain positive as the shipyard is expected to continue operating at a high utilisation rate.
Marco Polo Marine’s offshore division oversees a fleet of 14 OSVs, which includes two maintenance working vessels (MWV) and a series of tugs and barges.
Its shipyard, which is located in Batam in Indonesia, features three dry docks and occupies 34 hectares of land, with a seafront spanning 650 metres.
Last month, Marco Polo Marine chief executive Sean Lee was described as one of the best “value for money” chief executives on the Singapore Exchange, according to a local research house.
In terms of chief executive pay versus share performance, UOB Kay Hian’s Adrian Loh said Lee was the “standout” candidate, with the company seeing a share price gain of 52% in 2022 versus his annual salary of SGD 750,000.
