Local shipyard gets orders from foreign firms

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Dok & Perkapalan Kodja Bahari announced yesterday that it has won orders for the construction of ships from Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Iran.

Asharsono, a director of the company, which is a merger of four shipbuilding companies, said that in the last four years since the merger, Germany has ordered five liquefied natural gas tankers; Sweden, one roll-on, roll-out vessel and one tanker; the Netherlands, four 550-cubic feet reefer vessels and Iran, one tugboat and five split barges.

Local companies have also ordered tankers and passenger ships from the company, he said.

"The contracts for all of them have already been signed," Asharsono said after attending a ceremony for the installation of the company's new directors.

He declined, however, to mention the prices of the ships, saying that he feared it would be harmful to the clients "who are always competing with other shipping companies".

All the orders are expected to be completed by next year, he said.

"There is a good market out there and I am convinced that we can beat the competition," Asharsono said, citing Chinese shipbuilders as the company's main foreign competitors.

He stressed that low prices were not the only determining factor.

"All ships have a 'class certificate' which guarantees the degree of their quality and reliability. Prices, on the other hand, are quite negotiable," Asharsono said.

Directors

The directors of Dok & Perkapalan Kodja Bahari, who were installed yesterday, were Akmal Wahid, who was appointed as the company's president, and H.I.M. Pratisto, Wing Wirjawan, Muchlis Hamid and Asharsono as directors.

Dok & Perkapalan Kodja Bahari was established in 1991 after the government decided to merge PT Dok & Perkapalan Tanjung Priok, PT Kodja and PT Pelita Bahari in a bid to increase the companies' efficiency and productivity.

In 1992, PT Dok & Galangan Kapal Nusantara joined in the consolidation.

R. Pramono, the inspector-general of the Ministry of Industry who addressed the ceremony said that the merging of the four companies did not cause any "extraordinary rifts".

"In fact, many things have been achieved by Dok & Perkapalan Kodja Bahari," he said.

Orders for ships, he cited, have gradually increased the company's capacity to improve production processes, human resources and capital structure.

Last year, the company made Rp 171.15 billion (US$77 million) in sales revenues and Rp 3.19 billion in before-tax profits.(pwn)