The park has been set up to develop Kochi as a maritime hub: CMD of CSL

Ten global firms in the shipping industry have partnered with Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) to set up units at the maritime park near the international ship repair facility that it is constructing at Willingdon Island in Cochin Port Trust.

Some of the companies include Konsberg Maritime CM India Ltd, Wartsila India Pvt Ltd, MAN Energy Solutions India Ltd, Sicagen India Ltd, Ind-Aus Maritime India Ltd.

“The park has been set up to develop Kochi as a maritime hub,” said Madhu S Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, Cochin Shipyard said in the annual report for FY20.

Referring to the expansion of ship building and repairing capabilities, the CMD said that construction activities are progressing on the new 310 metre dry-dock which is capable of building vessels up to Suezmax, aircraft carriers, jack-up rigs, LNG vessels etc. On the international ship repair facility, Nair said the project is expected to be commissioned in FY22.

CSL expects to position Kochi as a major ship repair hub with current operations in the ship repair dock coupled with increased capacities that would be available when the international ship repair facility is commissioned, he added.

Ships For Fishing Requirements

Nair said that the company is looking at new avenues, facilities and business opportunities. The yard had also taken up constructing small ships in the fishing segments and inland waterways taking into consideration its vital requirements.

The yard has delivered 11 out of the 16 fishing vessels ordered by the Tamil Nadu Fisheries Department and the remaining five are ready for delivery. Built under the Blue Revolution scheme, these vessels target to promote sustainable fishing practices such as gill netting and long lining in the deep sea and also to provide necessary fishing infrastructural facilities to support deep sea fishing.

The main focus segments on the commercial front would include coastal, inland, fishing, specialised vessels etc. The eight Ro-Pax vessels contracted for Inland Waterways Authority of India for operations in NW1 and NW2 were delivered amidst Covid-19 lockdown and sailed off to Kolkata.

Cochin Shipyard reported an all-time high turnover of ₹3,422.48 crore and net profit of ₹638 crore in FY20, mainly due to its diversified focus on the main business segment of defence and commercial shipbuilding.

Of this, the shipbuilding income was ₹2,852 crore and the ship repair turnover was recorded at ₹570.23 crore. The operational revenue included ₹23 crore from the Mumbai facility and ₹17 crore from the Kolkata facility, Nair added.