KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): Eversendai Corp Bhd's first completed liftboat Vahana Aryan will be delivered by the first week of June, and will be fully commissioned by mid-June.

Its managing director Tan Sri A K Nathan Elumalay said, at a press conference before the company's annual general meeting today, the liftboat has secured its maiden charter contract from Saudi Aramco, and will soon be deployed in Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Nathan said its second liftboat is at 35% completion but currently put on hold.

"We expect to restart the work by next three to six months," he added, noting that the group needs to secure the required funding before resuming work for the second liftboat.

As crude oil price has been on a rising trend, the group noted that the current perception and confidence level of the oil and gas industry is very different compared to the past six months to one year ago, as opportunities have since arisen.

"The most significant aspect is we are able to secure a charter just about the same time of completion for its liftboat, so it goes to show that, we expect the same situation with the second liftboat once we restart," Nathan added.

Currently, the group is tendering for about RM20 billion worth of contracts, split equally between structure steel and oil and gas segments.

The group foresees a more sizeable contracts going forward. Year to date, the group has secured about RM716 million worth of job wins.