The Hindu Business Line : Samudra to build boat hulls for Swedish co

The company has entered into a manufacturing deal with Grebbestad Varv AB of Sweden, which has outsourced the construction of sports fishing boat hulls to Samudra on a long-term basis.

Mr S. Jeevan, CEO of Samudra Shipyard, said the deal would be on a buyback arrangement and the company had entered into a contract with the Swedish company for manufacturing five hulls a month. Each hull will cost about Rs 8-10 lakh. The Volvo engines for these boats will be installed in Sweden and work on the project will commence in January or February.

Samudra, he said, has been selected by Grebbestad from various shortlisted companies in India. Officials of the Swedish company had visited the facilities at the Samudra and they were impressed by the skill and quality of boat making in the boat yard. Besides the skills, the low labour cost in the construction of boats in India had attracted the Swedish company.

MORE ORDERS EXPECTED

Mr Jeevan said the contract is expected to garner more foreign orders for Samudra, which has three decades of experience in boat building, makes boats for tourism, defence, fishing and water sports.

Each boat will have a length of 5.5 to 6 metres and will be done as per the design provided by Grebbestad. The boat building capacity of the company was upgraded under the guidance of experts from the Netherlands Management Co-operation Programme.

More Stories on : Alliances & Joint Ventures | Shipping | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page