KUALA LUMPUR (April 22): Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (BHIC), a subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Bhd, has expressed its commitment to ensuring the delivery of the six littoral combat ships (LCS) ordered by the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN).

In a statement on Friday (April 22), BHIC said it will abide by all requirements of the Special Monitoring Committee, to be set up under the LCS Revival Plan approved by the Cabinet recently.

It said it is ready to mobilise its team working on the LCS project, which will then provide frequent reports on the progress of stages of the shipbuilding activities to the committee, headed by the secretary-generals of both the defence and finance ministries.

“We have the facilities and experience, and with the support and cooperation of RMN’s LCS project team, our vendors, lenders and the government, we are ready to continue with the project,” said BHIC chief executive officer Sharifuddin Md Zaini Al-Manaf.

“Boustead Holdings as a group is behind all efforts to revive the project during the mobilisation period, and ensuring the LCS vessels are completed and delivered to the RMN,” said its group managing director Datuk Seri Mohammed Shazalli Ramly.

The project, worth RM9.128 billion, was awarded to BHIC's unit Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd (BNS) by the government through the Ministry of Defence in 2014. However, none has been built so far, although the government has disbursed close to RM6 billion in payment to BNS.

Shares in BHIC ended three sen or 6.25% lower to 45 sen on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM114.29 million.