Singapore-based Pacific Carriers said it has entered into an agreement with Dubai's ship building unit Drydocks World to acquire a 67 per cent stake in its Southeast Asian venture, Drydocks World-Southeast Asia (DDW-SEA).

Drydocks World said the DDW SEA had recently completed a debt restructuring scheme in Singapore ahead of its shareholders agreement with Pacific, a fully-owned subsidiary of the Kuok (Singapore) Limited Group.

As per the agreement, DDW SEA will be renamed as DDW-PaxOcean Asia. As the holding company, the Pacific Carriers will take effective lead in providing management oversight of the new firm.

The company has already named a new board of directors under the chairmanship of Khamis Juma Buamim, the chairman of Drydocks World & Maritime World.

The partnership will also result in combined shipyard facilities with wide ranging capabilities, and a geographical coverage from the Middle East to East Asia, spanning the Indian & Pacific Oceans, said a DDW statement.

The strong legacy brought by both partners will enable DDW-PaxOcean, to build and deliver jack-up rigs, semi submersibles, FPSO/FSRU and other sophisticated marine vessels, including repairs and conversions, it added.

The day to day operational management of DDW-PaxOcean, comprising a shipyard in Singapore, 3 shipyards in Batam and a shipping division will be managed by the new team.

PCL is the shipping arm of the Kuok Group, which also operates two shipyards in China; in Zhuhai and Zhoushan. The Zhuhai yard specializes in the construction of offshore vessels while the Zhoushan yard is equipped with two large docks capable of accommodating the largest ultra size container vessels, VLOCs and semi-submersibles.-TradeArabia News Service