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Catering to the rising opportunities in ship repair and construction, Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has geared up to meet the emerging demand from domestic as well as overseas customers. The public sector entity is now getting ready to commission its new ₹1,800 crore dry-dock facility by 2024.
The new 300 m x 60 m dry dock, which will come up in 15 acres in Kochi, has the capability to build bigger vessels including aircraft carriers, said Madhu S Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, CSL.
INS Vikrant
The recent delivery of INS Vikrant to Indian Navy has given the confidence to go for another aircraft carrier especially when the Indian Navy plans to induct more aircraft carriers, Nair said at a meet organised by the Ernakulam Press Club as part of Takeoff Kerala series. “The yard is now confident of building a second aircraft carrier in seven to eight years”, he said.
INS Vikrant constructed at a cost of $3 billion was completed in 15 years against 13 years as originally planned. The construction time for building such vessels by the UK is 10 years and the cost was around $5.50 billion, he said.
Commissioning of Project
The work order for the aircraft carrier was signed in 2004 and steel cutting in 2005. However, Russia’s reluctance to provide steel delayed the project by about two years. Later, the country developed warship-grade high-strength steel indigenously.
On the international ship repair facility, he said the ₹942 crore project at the 42 acres leased from Cochin Port Authority is going on as part of the yard’s expansion plans. The ship repair facility will enable berthing of six medium sized vessels at a time. The facility was expected to be commissioned by December 2023.
He pointed out that 77 per cent work in the project is over and the remaining work will be taken by the yard from the contracting firm because of the delay in completion. The platform shiplift is awaiting delivery from Vietnam. The commissioning of the project will enable CSL to enhance its ship repair capacity from 100 to 150 every year. There are also plans to set up a Maritime Park like the one in Singapore, he added.
The proposed project in Willingdon Island is expected to create employment opportunities for another 3000 workers. The yard currently employs a total of 9000 people including 1800 permanent workers, he said.
Plans are on the afoot to penetrate into Europe and other overseas markets considering the customer response for alternate fuel vessels. This would help to double the turnover as well.
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