SembMarine bags first polar expedition cruise ship design contract

SEMBCORP Marine has secured its first polar expedition cruise ship design contract. The contract signed between SembMarine's subsidiary, LMG Marin, and Croatia's Brodosplit Shipyard, is for the design of a ship to be built for Quark Expeditions. It calls on LMG Marin to deliver a basic design package for the 128-metre ship, which can carry up to 200 passengers and 116 crew members. The ship is scheduled for completion by the third quarter of 2020. It would join Quark's pool of purpose-built vessels for expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic. "Passenger ships have always been an important market for us," LMG Marin managing director  Torbjørn Bringedal said. "Throughout our 75 years of operation, we have designed more than 100 ferries, RoPax vessels and passenger vessels of various kinds, built at shipyards worldwide. The contract with Brodosplit for Quark Expeditions' new polar expedition cruise ship marks an important breakthrough for LMG Marin in our focus on larger RoPax and passenger vessels." Sembcorp Marine president and CEO Mr Wong Weng Sun said, "We are pleased that LMG Marin has won its first polar expedition cruise ship design contract. This major milestone reinforces the company's arctic ship design capabilities which, coupled with Sembcorp Marine's engineering expertise, will be critical to our future business opportunities and growth. We look forward to many more successes from LMG Marin." SembMarine closed at S$2.07 on Tuesday, up one cent.