Exploring Untapped Demand in Malaysia's Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Industry

Abstract

The global SBSR industry is projected to grow by over 195 billion U.S. dollars in size by 2030 whereby East Asia remains the dominant region in shipbuilding, with China, Japan, and South Korea leading the sector, while Malaysia ranks 16th in ship built by Million Gross Tonnage globally. According to the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 202, the Port of Tanjung Pelepas, Malaysia rose by 12 places to take the sixth position among the top 25 ports globally.  By exploring the technological trends in SBSR, nine (9) key areas of innovations that led to sustainability in shipbuilding are highlighted too. Although Malaysia's SBSR industry recorded an increasing number of Malaysian flag registration vessels by 19.3% in 2023 compared to 2022, however, the locally built new vessels showed a decreasing trend from 38 units to 18 units built (2020 – 2023). Finally, potential market opportunities within Malaysia's SBSR sector have been identified and addressed to tackle the declining trend of newly built vessels in the Malaysian SBSR sector.