Cochin Shipyard capacity utilisation sees a surge

Riding on the back of export orders, Cochin Shipyard (CSL), a major shipbuilding and repair yard, has seen a surge in capacity utilisation.

"The yard has achieved 85 per cent capacity utilisation during the current financial year. It used to be less than 50 per cent four years back. The export orders bagged during the last two years have brought in drastic improvement in capacity utilisation and if the trend continues, CSL will soon achieve cent per cent capacity utilisation. It may then have to think of expanding operations and increasing the installed capacity," a senior CSL official said.

On the domestic shipbuilding front, the yard is at present executing orders for an oil tanker for the Shipping Corporation of India, a dredger for the Chennai Port Trust and a fire float for the Visakhapatnam Port Trust.

CSL bagged its first export order in February 2002 from the National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC), Abu Dhabi. The ship, a 15,000 T jacket launch barge, was delivered in 2003 within the contractual delivery period.

The yard secured the second export order in shipbuilding in June 2003 for construction of nine firefighting tugs for the Jeddah Port Authority, Saudi Arabia. This order worth Rs 120 crore is proceeding on schedule, he said.

Claiming that the satisfactory performance with regard to these two orders has boosted the yard's reputation, he said, "As a result, in January 2004, CSL has bagged a Rs 350 crore export order for construction of four 30,000 DWT Bulk Carriers for the Clipper Group of Denmark. So far, this is the biggest export order obtained by a shipyard in the country."

After execution of this order, CSL is expecting to bag yet another order for four more bulk carriers from the Clipper Group. The total shipbuilding export orders concluded since bagging the first order from Abu Dhabi-based NPCC in February 2002 is more than Rs 500 crore, he said.

Emphasising that all these export orders have been secured against stiff global competition from leading shipyards of the world, he said, "The Clipper Group is a fast-expanding shipping company in the world and owns, operates and manages more than 250 vessels. The group with its commercial headquarters near Copenhagen, mostly owns handysize, handymax and panamax bulk carriers." He said the group is also a major player in the multi-purpose projects and chemical tankers markets.

He said, "Satisfactory execution of the contract for this renowned group would boost the reputation of CSL in the global market." On the ship repair front, the official said over the years, the yard has developed adequate capabilities to handle complex and sophisticated repair jobs. "The yard has so far repaired more than 1,000 vessels," a company official said. The yard repaired 50 vessels in 2002-03.

Lately, three of the most prominent navies in the world have evinced interest in getting their ships repaired at CSL.

While the French Navy has already inked a memorandum of understanding with CSL and is expected to soon send a huge ship for repairs, top officials of the US and the British navies have recently completed an inspection of the facilities with a view to entering into a contract.

Maintaining that the yard also has an order for construction of an Air Defence Ship, he said, CSL's turnover has improved from Rs 117 crore in 1998-99 to Rs 236 crore in 2002-03. The yard expects a growth of at least 20 per cent during the current financial year.

CSL and the Indian Navy are jointly moving ahead to build the first indigenous aircraft carrier, which is expected to be completed in 2011.