Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) has pulled out of a project to develop a dry dock and ship repair facility at the Chennai port as it was not financially viable, according to sources.

State-owned CSL had applied for the ₹250-crore project with the private sector not participating in the bid.

In the pre-bid meeting early this year, CSL and one private player, Tebma Shipyards, had participated. But even CSL, which has the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India, did not submit a bid, but put in an application after the tender process was over.

This was treated as an ‘Expression of Interest’ for the project, which was awarded on a mutual agreement on terms and conditions.

The company carried out a techno-commercial study, and a consultant, Kitco, also made a site visit in March.

However, CSL recently communicated to the Chennai Port Trust that the project was not financially viable, sources said.

The Port will now re-invite bids after consulting with probable bidders to make it viable.

The Chennai port annually handles around 2,000 ships, but only has a slipway to repair the port’s crafts such as tugs. The planned dry dock facility will cater to vessels up to 65,000 dead weight tonnes.

On the East oast, Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers at Kolkata have a repair facility for small vessels, and L&T Kattupalli Port has a shipyard, too.

Large vessels now go to shipyards in Singapore for dry docking, while dredgers, tugs and cruise boats go to Colombo for repairs.

Some of the vessels need to wait for a year for dry-docking in these international ports.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW