President Ong tours shipyard

President Ong tours shipyard

CEBU, Philippines (AFP): Singaporean President Ong Teng Cheong yesterday toured a ship repair facility acquired by the Singaporean-based Keppel Group, in this central island.

Tight security prevailed as Ong, accompanied by his wife, Ling Siew May and Singaporean cabinet officials, toured the Cebu Shipyard and Engineering Works Corporation.

While at the shipyard, Ong also attended the inauguration of the Sea Falcon, a cable-laying ship owned by the London-based Odin Marine Management.

The vessel, formerly a Norwegian-flagged oil driller, Enterprise, had been refitted at the shipyard at the cost of 60 million pesos (US$2.4 million), said aides of Philippine President Fidel Ramos, who accompanied President Ong.

The shipyard is owned by Keppel Holdings Philippines which is 53 percent owned by the Keppel Group of Singapore.