It
was a landmark day at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) as it launched five (05) vessels
at one go from its Building Dock at Kochi and also laid the keel for two (02)
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 five (05) vessels were launched by Smt
Rameetha K, Scientist ‘G’, NPOL (DRDO) wife of Shri Madhu S Nair, CMD, CSL,
while Shri Pranab K Jha, VP JSW Shipping and Shri Madhu S Nair, CMD, CSL, did the
honours of keel laying for the two (02) new vessels in the presence of Shri
Sureshbabu NV, Director(Operations), Shri Bejoy Bhasker, Director(Technical),
Shri Jose VJ, Director(Finance) and other officials.
The
Mini General Cargo Ships launched today are part of a series of four similar
ships being built for the JSW group. These vessels are built and classed under
the standards of Indian Register of Shipping. 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 Mtr and height of 7.20 Mtr and
speed of 10 knots, will have a compliment 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.
The
three FBOP’s, with a length of 46 Mtr, launched today are part of a series of
nine vessels being built for the Water Wing of the Border Security Force. These
vessels are designed in-house by CSL & classed by Indian Register of
Shipping. 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, Fresh Water and provisions to the smaller boats and are to
be deployed on India’s Eastern & Western borders.
CSL
is expanding geographically and has commenced Ship Repair Units at Mumbai,
Kolkata & Port Blair in addition to its Kochi facilities. CSL is also
setting up fully owned subsidiary shipyards at Kolkata (named HCSL) and at
Malpe, Karnataka (named TEBMA Shipyards Limited) to cater to the construction
of small & 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 M long dry dock at CSL and
a ship lift based Ship Repair Yard at Willingdon Island, Kochi.
Official Spokesperson
Cochin Shipyard Limited