For Marco Polo Marine ’s CEO Sean Lee, the company’s comeback over the past decade has been a testament to the sheer power of perseverance and innovation. In 2016, the shipping and shipyard operations firm was on the verge of going under when oil prices plunged and its revenue plummeted by 50%.
Many of its competitors in the offshore marine industry shuttered their organisations during the crisis, and Lee himself spent almost a year looking for funding to tide the business over. During this make-or-break period, he visited 150 potential investors and was rejected 141 times, before finally convincing nine of them to pool together $60 million to save his firm.
Even with the lifeline, however, he knew things had to change. He credits the unflagging support of Marco Polo Marine’s board, investors, shareholders and other partners, who backed his debt restructuring plan and subsequent vision to pivot the firm towards the emerging offshore wind sector in Asia for longer-term resilience.
He shares: “The day before my bond solicitation exercise in 2017, I went to the lawyer’s office to handle a few things. At the time, another firm was going through the exercise, and I could hear its bondholders shouting vulgarities at its management. I thought, oh no, this is going to be me tomorrow. But my bondholders were very kind to me.
“In fact, our banks agreed to our debt restructuring plan, our investors were willing to part with their money, and our bondholders agreed to my proposals. If any one of them had said no, we would have been done then and there. This is why I will always be very grateful for their support.”
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He believes that being prepared and transparent with all stakeholders — “sharing good news and risks” — carried the day then, and will continue to do so. During a shareholder’s meeting to win approval for the debt restructuring, he fielded questions for over two hours, convincing even a staunch holdout. This persuaded them, paving the way for the firm’s transformation.
Tacking into the wind
“After we survived and restructured, we looked at how to pivot towards new things, to make our firm stronger and more resilient. That’s when we chanced upon renewables as something promising,” Lee explains. With limited funds to invest in new assets, he repurposed some assets from serving the offshore oil and gas industry to exploring the offshore wind sector.
While Marco Polo Marine’s offshore oil and gas business remains its bread and butter, it now operates in Taiwan’s offshore wind sector, and has inked agreements to pursue such projects in South Korea and Japan. From being in the red after the oil prices crashed in 2016, it is also profitable once more, posting $123.5 million in revenue and $21.7 million in profit for 2024.
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Lee adds: “The offshore wind farm sectors in Asia are at a very nascent stage, so there is lots of room for us to grow.” Taiwan, South Korea and Japan alone have set ambitious capacity targets: 5.7 gigawatts by 2025, 16 gigawatts by 2030, and 45 gigawatts by 2040 respectively. Vietnam, the Philippines and Australia are also expected to ramp up their capacity.
So far, Lee’s persistence and willingness to go the extra mile have been the engines driving the firm’s diversification. To understand the offshore wind sector, he travelled to Taiwan — a regional leader — even during the Covid-19 pandemic to speak to experts there. “I endured the 14 days of quarantine plus seven days of self-health management many times,” he recalls.
He acknowledges the challenges ahead. Even for a firm versed in offshore oil and gas, offshore wind can be daunting. “In the past, offshore oil and gas meant Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand. Offshore wind farms, on the other hand, are more in North Asia. We are going into new territories, with different water and wind conditions and other factors.”
Moreover, every country has its own local crews, customs and regulations. “For a foreign firm like us to go to a local site, we need to work with the local people. Whichever market we enter, we have to restart the process of engaging local workers and sharing our knowledge on how offshore work is conducted and operated. We have to be patient.”
Getting the wind in its sails
Still, Marco Polo Marine has several key advantages. Its lengthy track record in offshore oil and gas — after Lee’s father founded the firm in 1991 to transport building materials, he took over in 2003 and introduced shipyard and offshore operations in 2003 and 2009 respectively — has earned the trust of customers and partners across the region.
“We also have our own shipyard, so we can design, build, own and operate our own vessels. For the offshore wind sector, we are probably one of the only few companies that can do this. We can also handle design changes and do reverse engineering — we can ask clients what they want, then use our insights as an operator to suggest improvements.”
With its shipyard, it also has the flexibility to manage repairs and maintenance for complex vessels used in the offshore wind industry. Lee continues: “As we accumulate experience and expertise, we can rely on the skills and networks when we enter new markets. For example, I’m bringing our Japanese partners to Taiwan to learn more about the sector.”
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The firm is also expanding its infrastructure and equipment to bolster its move into offshore wind. It has spent years designing and constructing a commissioning service operation vessel (CSOV), which it will deploy to help assemble and maintain offshore wind farms in Asia. When Lee stepped aboard the nearly completed CSOV for the first time recently, he was overcome.
“By the time I walked up the vessel’s stairs, I was just hit by so many emotions. We had spent so long designing it, and then choosing lots of equipment for it, and now it was finally here,” he relates. Alongside the CSOV, Marco Polo Marine will also soon open its fourth drydocks to build, maintain and repair ships, further strengthening its hand.
Looking ahead, Lee aims to leverage on more partnerships to accelerate his firm’s growth. “We don’t have infinite funds, so we need to find ways to use what we do have, to grow more organically. This can be in the form of joint ventures, new business models, or tapping on our experiences and track record to attract more customers.
“At the end of the day, I want to deliver on our plans and investments and become a leader in offshore wind in Asia. I want to be present in every country in Asia. For that, we need the right partners. I built the business, saved it and pivoted it, but I didn’t do it alone. No one can. If you don’t give up, keep going and have the right partners, you can go a long way.”
