SOURCE: THE HINDU
Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on Thursday launched five vessels at one go from its Building Dock at Kochi and also laid the keel for two vessels.
The vessels launched are two 8000 DWT Mini General Cargo Ships for JSW Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd and three Floating Border Outpost Vessels (FBOP) for the Indian Border Security Force. Keel laying was carried out for two more 8000 DWT Mini General Cargo Ships for JSW Shipping & Logistics Pvt Ltd.
CSL achieved this milestone amidst the Covid -19 pandemic by working with available resources with necessary precautions, the company said in a statement.
The Mini General Cargo Ships are part of a series of four similar ships being built for the JSW group. These ships will be used for transportation of dry bulk cargo such as coal, iron ore, dolomite, and limestone. The vessels, with a length of 122 metre and height of 7.20 metre and speed of 10 knots, will have a complement of 16 crew. These ships are expected to ply on the coastal route between Jaigarh Port and Dolvi Steel Plant in river Amba near Dharamtar Port.
This programme, once implemented, would trigger one of the largest inland water transport cargo movements in India, which is in line with the Government of India’s vision for the development of the National Waterways, CSL said.
The three FBOP’s, with a length of 46 metre launched are part of a series of nine vessels being built for the Water Wing of the Border Security Force. Each FBOP is designed with stowage arrangements for four fast patrol boats, which can be launched and hoisted using its own davit system. The vessels will act as a floating base for the flotilla of fast patrol boats and will supply petrol, freshwater and provisions to the smaller boats and are to be deployed on India’s Eastern and Western borders.
Geographical expansion
CSL is expanding geographically and has commenced ship repair units at Mumbai, Kolkata and Port Blair in addition to its Kochi facilities. The yard is also setting up wholly-owned subsidiary shipyards at Kolkata (named HCSL) and at Malpe, Karnataka (called TEBMA Shipyards Limited) to cater to the construction of small and medium vessels as well as inland water vessels.
CSL is also augmenting its infrastructure in Kochi and is currently investing around ?2,800 crore in the construction of a new 310 metre long dry dock and a ship lift based Ship Repair Yard at Willingdon Island.
