Muhibbah's subsidiary, Muhibbah Marine Engineering, has already had two orders for two supply/anchorage handling vessels that will be used to ferry dry cement, mud and chemicals to Petronas oil rig platforms. Both vessels have a combined total cost of RM56 million and the company has had enquiries for a further eight more vessels worth RM350 million in total from several local and foreign companies.

According to Boon, his company's shipyard has the capacity to build between six and eight vessels a year.

Boon also believes that the industry has a lot of potential for growth and we need the support of the government to commission more ships to be built locally instead of overseas. He cited examples where many local shippers like MISC (Malaysia International Shipping Corp Bhd) preferred to get foreign firms to build their ships.