SINGAPORE – Offshore engineering company Seatrium is seeing growing demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) infrastructure as the US-Iran war forces countries to seek alternative energy sources.
With oil prices turning volatile following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for global oil and gas supplies, governments are increasingly looking for new ways to keep the lights on, spurring greater investments into the complex vessels and platforms used to produce LNG.
Speaking at Seatrium’s first-half results briefing on July 31, chief executive Chris Ong said the energy crisis is reshaping the flow of energy resources around the world.
“How do I secure my feedstock, and how do I power my homes? That has led to the question on infrastructure investment,” said Ong.
This has led to opportunities for Seatrium, which is among the few shipyards in the world with experience in designing and building LNG platforms.
It was the first in the world in 2008 to engineer a floating storage and regasification unit – vessels used to transport, store and convert LNG to gas that can be fed into a country’s onshore gas grid.
Ong said demand for these units is driven by “LNG supply tightness, energy security, and the push for supply diversification”.
He added that Seatrium’s vessels and platforms allow countries to receive offshore LNG supplies and feed the energy into their power grids, making this one of the quickest ways to secure energy supplies.
“The prospects are worldwide.”
Seatrium is now also delivering floating liquefied natural gas vessels designed to extract, process, liquefy and store natural gas offshore.
The company has carried out more than 90 per cent of the world’s conversions of existing vessels into floating storage and regasification units, as well as floating storage units.
“The pipeline for gas conversions is growing, and we intend to take the leading share of it,” Ong said.
The company’s net order book stood at $13.3 billion as of June 30, comprising 24 projects with deliveries through to 2033.
For the first half of 2026, Seatrium’s net profits jumped 158 per cent to $373 million from the same period a year ago, on the back of a 4.7 per cent year-on-year rise in revenues to $5.6 billion.
Excluding one-off gains from divestments, net profit rose 54 per cent.
Seatrium said it expects its FY2026 net profit to be “materially higher” than FY2025.
The company added that it sees global pipeline opportunities worth over $32 billion in the next two years that are diversified across oil and gas, offshore wind and conversions.
That will set it up to achieve its FY2028 revenue target of $10 billion to $12 billion and over 8 per cent return on equity, among other things, Ong said.
Ong added that Seatrium’s repairs and upgrades business would support these targets, while the company also pursues growth in higher-value segments such as cruise, naval and power vessels.
It also has newbuilds, conversions and upgrades in West Africa and South-east Asia on its order book, and is also exploring opportunities in Brazil.
Ong also sees opportunities in other energy segments, including offshore wind.
Seatrium, which provides offshore substations, wind turbine installation vessels and floating wind foundation solutions, expects long-term demand in offshore wind to be underpinned by grid upgrading in Europe and ambitious renewable energy targets across the Asia-Pacific.
Ong sees potential to make more headway in Europe’s offshore wind market, as well as in the Asia Pacific. Its main Asia-Pacific market is currently Taiwan.
The conflict in the Middle East, where most of Seatrium’s maintenance, repair and overhaul business is, has not directly disrupted its work. However, there are challenges such as limited flights, Ong said.
Project tenders are still coming, he added.
Seatrium’s shares closed July 31 at $2.15, up 1.4 per cent.
