The Hindu Business Line : Ship repair facility at Kochi — Building plans await feasibility report

With dry dock facilities for ship repairs being far below the demand, the repair yard proposed at Puthuvypeen, near Kochi port is expected to have good business potential.

THE final version of the feasibility report on the international ship repair facility of the Kochi Port is expected to be ready by this month end, after which the initiative is expected to gather momentum for setting up the Rs 315-crore yard.

The Shipping Ministry's recent decision to encourage shipbuilding and repair industry in the country has also boosted the prospects of this ambitious project. The Ministry, according to senior Kochi Port officials, intends to encourage two or three ship-building yards in the country to take advantage of the global shipping buoyancy.

Dr Jacob Thomas, Chairman, Kochi Port, said the Indian Ports Association was appointed consultant for conducting the feasibility study for the project. An IPA team visited the port and held discussions with port officials after collecting the data required for the preparation of the pre-feasibility report. The IPA also made a presentation in March about the feasibility study it had conducted. The port had given the layout the plan to the consultants. Simultaneously, efforts are also on to work out a financing model to get attractive bids, he added.

As part of its integrated development plan, the Port had envisaged a full-fledged ship repair yard at Puthuvypeen, where the port has 40 hectares earmarked in the port-based Special Economic Zone. The idea is to offer repair facility for ocean going vessels as the land earmarked for the purpose is close to international sealanes.

The Chairman said that the project could be developed under BOT format or under a joint venture route with the port taking 26 per cent equity. Considering the total number of ships owned and operated in India and also the ships traffic through international sea route, he pointed out that the dry dock facility currently available in India for undertaking the ship repair is far below the demand. This results in the ships depending on dry docks abroad.

Taking all these aspects into consideration, he said the port is seriously pursuing the project. The ship repair complex envisages dry dock, floating dock and ship lift.

It would be able to accommodate large vessels and the possibility of accommodating VLCCs is also to be explored. He said that the global trade requirements were continuously moving in favour of large vessels.

The initial calculations had confirmed the project's viability, he added. Under the proposed maritime policy regime, the Ministry is committed to making India a vibrant shipbuilding nation.

While from the 15th to 20th Centuries, the Europeans were the leaders in shipbuilding, now the Asians in the forefront.

South Korea has 40 per cent of the market share, followed by Japan (34 per cent) and China (15 per cent). There are a total of 473 shipyards in the world, of which 64 are in Japan and 58 are in China. South Korea has only 14 shipyards but they are much bigger in size compared to the Japanese or Chinese facilities. India is way behind with eight yards.

However, the two public sector yards — Cochin and Hindustan Shipyard — are capable of building average and above average size ocean-going vessels.

It is pointed out that Hyundai Shipyard is world's No 1 with 15 per cent global share with nine large dry docks and six Goliath cranes. Moreover, the yard has delivered 1,100 ships since its inception in 1972 and its order book position was 288 ships in 2005. Hyundai Shipyard's revenue in 2004 was $4.2 billion.

China has also embarked on a major shipbuilding programme and laid down directives for the industry.

Beijing has identified three regions for the purposeand is in the process of promoting in these areas various units to produce ancillaries and equipment for a comprehensive shipbuilding industry.

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