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eading food manufacturer PT Indofood Sukses Makmur announced on Tuesday that the company, through its wholly owned subsidiary Ocean 21 Pte. Ltd., has established a new subsidiary called Glory Sky Enterprise Pte. Ltd.

According to a file submitted to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), Indofood established the company on June 29 under Singaporean law.

“Glory Sky Enterprise has been established to anticipate the business expansion of Ocean 21, which runs a shipping service business,” Indofood director and corporate secretary Werianty Setiawan said in an email.

Werianty declined to give further details or state whether Glory Sky Enterprise would focus on a more specific business than its parent company Ocean 21.

The establishment of Glory Sky was one of Ocean 21’s measures to create a stronger presence in the Singapore shipping business. Ocean 21 also established a new subsidiary called Ocean Hiryu Pte. Ltd.
in May.

Prior to the establishment of Glory Sky Enterprise and Ocean Hiryu, Ocean 21 already had several subsidiaries, including Singapore-based companies Ocean Phoenix Pte. Ltd. and Ocean Amazing Pte. Ltd., as well as British Virgin Island-based company Special Sky Investments Ltd. and Bountiful Pro Ltd.

According to its financial report on the first quarter of the year, Indofood has several other subsidiaries based in Singapore besides Ocean 21. The subsidiaries are Pacsari Pte. Ltd., which also is in the shipping business, and investment company Indofood Singapore Holdings Pte. Ltd.

According to the financial report, Ocean 21, which started commercial operations in 2006, had total assets worth Rp 1.58 trillion (US$167.48 million) at the end of March.

Indofood, through Ocean 21, seemed to take a closer step to maximizing its opportunities in the growing shipping business in Singapore.

Singapore Shipping Association president Patrick Phoon has said that Singapore’s maritime industry continues to grow on the back of strong intra-Asia trade amid the global economic downturn.

Phoon cited that Singapore remained a major hub port with 127,000 ships totaling more than 2 billion gross tons calling into port last year. Moreover, he said, the Port of Singapore also handled more than 29 million containers of 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) last year.

Meanwhile, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) has attracted more than 4,100 vessels totaling more than 59 million gross tons into the Singapore Registry. “The Singapore bunkering industry also performed well, delivering more than 43 million tons of bunkers last year,” Phoon said in a written statement.

— JP/Raras Cahyafitri