ENERGY shipping firm MISC Bhd’s recent undertaking of a US$1.1bil (RM4bil) liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipbuilding project is indication of one thing – that the once-troubled entity is back on its feet with a healthier balance sheet and expanding cautiously in a challenging industry.
The most obvious deduction that can be made from the announcement on the novation agreement it had entered into earlier this week with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and South Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries Co Ltd (HHI) is that Petronas – MISC’s controlling shareholder and major customer which had once attempted to take it private and procure its own vessels – is now confident that MISC is financially healthy enough to build ships on its own.