Hong Lam Marine, partnering with Singapore and everyone else, Focus Reports
Release Date: 2010-10-07
Few companies better represent the outward looking nature of Singapore than Hong Lam Marine. From the company’s origins in 1981 it is now one of the leading bunker craft operators in the country. What has taken the company to this stage is a strong ability to look globally whilst not forgetting their roots in Singapore.Hong Lam’s international perspective was first spurred when chief executive of the company, Lim Teck Cheng visited trade fairs in Rotterdam to see how other players were developing their vessels. He was struck by how Dutch tankers could be operated by simple crews of just four people whereas the equivalent in Asia needed twelve. This trip inspired a thirst for innovation in the company and since then, Hong Lam has rolled out a series of firsts in Singaporean bunker tankers.
In 2005 Hong Lam launched the first double-hulled tanker in Singapore and in 2009 it did the same for specifically designed bunker tanker with 22,000 DWT called the ‘Spectrum’ and profiting from significant economies of scale thanks to its size. Next on the agenda is a move into cleaner and more efficient diesel-electric vessels with three expected for 2011. Mr Cheng told Focus Reports diesel-electric technology is: ‘more environmental-friendly, cost-saving and easier to maintain vessels to keep costs down’. According to current calculations these tankers will benefit from 30% less fuel consumption.
However, it is not only in innovation where Hong Lam has been outward looking. The company has established an impressive array of international partners from Exxon Mobil and Shell to Toyota. Earning respect from Toyota, a traditionally cautious company, has led to a wave of interest from other Japanese companies. With every prestigious international partner Hong Lam furthers its international reputation. Mr Cheng said ‘we will remain persistent in expanding our reach geographically’ and the company already has its eyes set on India, the Middle East and China.
This international focus even extends to using both European and Asian banks to manage its debt financing. Before the crisis, the company had the foresight to diversify and maintain a healthy balance of both European and Asian banks. When the European financial institutions reduced lending after Lehman Brothers collapsed Hong Lam was able to rely more on its Asian banks.
However, the company has not forgotten where it belongs. Although not hard for a bunker tanker owner to profit from Singapore’s position as the number one bunkering port in the world, Hong Lam Marine has remained especially close to Singapore and especially the MPA. The Singaporean Minister of Trade recently highlighted Hong Lam as a key industry partner and Hong Lam marine has been the first company to collaborate in installing mass-meters on their ships. As a front runner in producing double-hulled tankers, Hong Lam Marine is also keen to collaborate with the Gate system whereby the MPA offers concessions and port waivers to encourage the building of double-hulled tankers.
Inspired by Rotterdam, partnered with the oil giants and Toyota, financed by Western and Asian banks, and working in close partnership with the MPA, Hong Lam is a classic Singaporean success story, profoundly outward looking yet proud of where it belongs.
| Type: | NORMAL |
| Company: | Focus Reports |
| Country: | 瑞士 |