Mooreast Asia acquires significantly larger new Singapore facility
by Mooreast Asia 11 Sep 2021 08:02 PDT
Mooreast's upgraded water-front facility at 51 Shipyard Road © Mooreast Asia
Mooring solutions specialist Mooreast Asia Pte. Ltd. ("Mooreast") has said that it has completed the acquisition of an upgraded water-front facility in Singapore that will more than double its capacity as it embarks on its strategic shift towards offshore renewable energy, particularly floating wind farms.
The new facility at 51 Shipyard Road has a usable floor space of 323,000 sqft (30,000 sqm), compared to 129,000 sqft (12,000 sqm) at its previous facility at 14 Benoi Sector.
It includes three main buildings which were erected by the previous owner before it went into receivership. With minimal outlay, Mooreast is now able to use the facility for components fabrication, warehousing and office functions.
Mooreast recently acquired the yard in southwest Singapore for S$18.5 million and expects to increase utilisation from 2,000 to 5,000 metric tons of steel throughput per year by 2023.
The acquisition is a major part of Mooreast's strategy to leverage on its track record and capabilities in the offshore oil and gas and marine sectors and transition to mooring and rigging products and solutions for the offshore renewable energy sector.
Offshore floating platforms to capture wind, tidal or solar energy require mooring and rigging systems to anchor safely to the seabed. Such floating platforms are increasingly preferred to fixed-bottom structures that are confined to very shallow waters and may potentially harm marine life.
Mooreast designs and fabricates mooring products such as specialised anchors and chain stoppers. It also offers related engineering, installation and commissioning services.
Amid concerns of climate change, floating wind farms are reaching a tipping point towards commercialisation worldwide. The total global floating wind market is estimated at around US$100 billion for the next 10-15 years. Mooreast sees the addressable market for mooring solutions of about US$15 billion (15% of total) as a major opportunity.
Mr Sim Koon Lam, founder and Managing Director of Mooreast, said "The new facility at 51 Shipyard Road will allow us to expand our capacity significantly and is critical for our forward strategy to position ourselves as a global leader in designing and producing total mooring solutions for the offshore renewable energy sector."