SembMarine's pursuit of green projects faces hurdle

Singapore

AS the world transitions to a lower carbon future, so must the industries powering the economy.

For years now, offshore and marine (O&M) group Sembcorp Marine has been pursuing liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects for a very good reason.

LNG, with its cleaner burning attributes, is considered the fossil fuel that can replace crude oil. But SembMarine's efforts on this front may have hit at least one roadblock - project financing.

President and CEO Wong Weng Sun said that the group has sought to overcome this hurdle by offering solutions that can help its clients raise financing. But he qualified that it hasn't been in the group's core business to own equity in such projects.

He has also called on the government of Singapore to look into possible ways to back projects seeking financing. This call would have taken into account co-financing such projects either through equity or debt, which can be too hefty a burden to carry on the balance sheets of SembMarine as well as its Singapore-based rival, …