Malaysia's property and palm oil plantation firm Boustead Holdings has bought a 30 percent stake in PSC-Naval Dockyard, a ship-builder involved in a troubled naval deal, a report said Saturday.

Boustead bought the stake for RM166.5 million (US$44.16 million) from Limaran Logistics on Friday, the company said in a statement to the stock exchange, Bursa Malaysia.

The purchase came after Boustead recently paid RM25 million to increase its stake in PSC Industries, the ship-builder's parent company, to 32.72 percent, the Star newspaper reported.

PSC Naval Dockyard in 1998 signed a RM24 billion contract to build 27 offshore patrol vessels over 10 years for the Malaysian navy, together with foreign partners led by Germany's ThyssenKrupp.

Probe delays

But the order has been plagued by technical problems and delays, and PSC-Naval Dockyard has reportedly sought another RM1.8 billion from the government to complete the vessels.

Malaysia's opposition has urged a probe into the delays, saying the government had already invested RM2.5 billion in a project that could turn into "the biggest financial scandal in Malaysia's history".

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has vowed to sort out the deal.

Boustead Holdings is 70 percent owned by the armed forces pension fund Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera.