The Hindu Business Line : Baalu inaugurates small ship division at CSL

Mr T. R. Baalu, Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport and Highways, inaugurated the small ship division bay at Cochin shipyard (CSL) on Sunday. On the occasion, he dedicated a 300-tonne gantry crane to the nation.

Improve productivity

The crane, which is one of the largest in India, with a lifting capacity of 300 tonnes would vastly improve the productivity of the yard and is crucial for the prestigious air defence ship project for the Indian Navy. The total height of the crane is 75 metres and lifting height is 50 m. The crane span is 95 m.

Engineering achievement

The installation of the crane was an engineering achievement in itself. The heavy structures such as the main girder, fixed leg and hinged leg were fabricated at the CSL shop. Based on the erection plan the three heavy structures were assembled in its designated locations at the site.

Very heavy foundations were made for the erection towers as well as for guy wire anchors for stage lifting and positioning the gigantic gantry. The girder fabricated in six blocks was transported to site using CSL's 150-tonne self-elevating transporters. Connected electrical machinery erection and cabling were done simultaneously, so that the crane became operational in the shortest possible time.

Alternate revenue

The small ship division bay is envisaged for facilitating concurrent construction of small commercial vessels along with the air defence ship. This facility would help the yard to establish an alternate revenue stream during the years when construction of the air defence ship would be in full swing.

The yard at present has 19 ships in its order book. These include five bulk carriers for Bahamas, 12 platform supply vessels for Norway, one fire fighting tug for Jeddah and one air defence ship for the Indian Navy. CSL was also successful in securing orders for three major upgradations for rigs of ONGC such as Sagar Vijay, Sagar Kiran and Sagar Bhushan. CSL was able to achieve the highest production in shipbuilding during the year 2005-06 at 1,01,663 DWT.