TAS Offshore Berhad

TAS Offshore is offering for sale 77 million new ordinary shares of 50 sen at 90 sen a piece. It is scheduled to be listed on Aug 28. Lau said the company would acquire machinery and equipment, like gantry cranes. He said the existing shipyard could build an average 23 vessels a year and was now running at full capacity. "Nearly 90% of our business is driven by exports, with our main customers from United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Indonesia and Singapore,'' he added. TAS Offshore has in hand 28 ongoing contracts that will keep it busy until 2011. The company specialises in the construction of 23m-60m tugboats, anchor handling tug vessels and anchor handling tug supply vessels. It also builds ferries, workboats and landing craft. Lau told reporters later the company had the expertise to build chemical tankers but did not have the facilities to do so now.