Singaporean billionaire takes stake in Marco Polo Marine

Billionaire Michael Kum’s Halom Investments has acquired 150M shares in Singapore-listed OSV owner and shipbuilder Marco Polo Marine.

According to a stock exchange filing, Halom Investments acquired the 4% stake in Marco Polo Marine (MPM) at S$0.13 per share from Apricot Capital Pte Ltd via a secondary market transaction on 22 January. Apricot Capital is controlled by the Teo family.

Investment banker Maybank Research Pte issued a ‘buy’ rating on MPM, noting in its research report that Mr Kum “has a good investment track record in the marine sector,” based on his successful divestment of Miclyn Express Offshore and Atlantic Navigation fleets. “We believe this is a strong validation by an industry veteran of MPM’s potential,” said Maybank Research.

Weighing strongly in Maybank Research’s assessment is a S$198M (US$157M) contract awarded to MPM to design and build a 4,000-gt oceanographic research vessel (ORV) for the National Academy of Marine Research. The contract “represents a significant milestone for MPM’s shipbuilding operations and underscores its growing capabilities in specialised vessel construction.”

Designed by Norway’s Skipteknisk, the DP2-class ORV is based on an ST-344 design and will be built over four years at Marco Polo Shipyard in Batam, Indonesia, with engineering and commercial support provided from Singapore. Built to dual-class CR and ABS standards, the diesel-electric hybrid vessel will be equipped with a battery energy storage system and waste heat recovery system to minimise fuel consumption and emissions.

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