ST Engineering Annual Report 2020

long with the general economy, the global shipping and maritime industry was buffeted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Container ships, oil tankers and offshore supply vessels were forced to operate in a limited fashion as the industry took measures to ensure business continuity and limit disruptions to supply chain. We were not immune, especially after Singapore implemented a two-month circuit breaker in April and May to curb the spread of the virus. Measures were introduced to limit the movement of people while the workplaces of non-essential businesses had to shut. As we are classified as a provider of essential services, our yards were able to continue operations. Our workforce was, however, greatly impacted as virus clusters broke out in dormitories housing our migrant workers. These places were locked down to contain further spread of the virus, which disrupted our operations as our workers were in quarantine. Our yard operations were only able to pick up the pace in June, after workers were gradually allowed to return to work. As a result of the pandemic, transportation around the world grounded to a halt, causing fuel demand to plunge and oil prices to plummet to an all-time low. Oil and gas companies and related industries implemented cost- cutting measures to either reduce or defer their capital expenditures. These affected our shipbuilding and environmental engineering projects as many oil majors chose to defer their capital expenditures until oil prices stabilised. OPERATING REVIEW & OUTLOOK MARINE Expanded product offerings to include renewables by developing designs of green and sustainable vessels Secured a contract to design and build a Materials Recovery Facility for Singapore’s largest Integrated Waste Management Facility Remained resilient and focused on delivering existing contracts WHAT WE ACHIEVED IN 2020 Despite these challenges that resulted in some project delays, we remained focused on delivering our existing projects. We were also in close, regular communications with our customers to keep them updated of our progress in project delivery. Steadfast Focus In 2020, we remained focused on pursuing opportunities in the defence segments in Singapore and the U.S., which were less impacted by COVID-19. Besides achieving key milestones in our ongoing shipbuilding projects, we continued to build on our position as a total naval solutions provider. We continued to build our core capabilities and capitalised on opportunities in the specialised vessels segments like Diving Support Vessels, Fishing Trawlers, and Floating Power Plants; and other A / ST ENG I NEER I NG 56