CEO Ling set to steer Vallianz into new waters

Singapore

MOVING from the starched and polished world of private equity to the rough-and-tumble one of the offshore and marine business was as much of an eye-opener for Vallianz Holdings chief executive Ling Yong Wah as was his first time on one of his own boats not too long ago.

When he stepped foot on an anchor handling tug, a type of offshore support vessel (OSV) that is commonly used to handle anchors for offshore oil rigs, he found that it was "cramped, confined, with very tough working conditions", he recalls.

It was starkly dif…