Padmesh Prabhune –
Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) one of the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facilities in the country will build 65 ships worth 22,000 crores, fuelled by green energy for Indian and international clients, including the Indian Navy.
According to reports, CSL has an all-time-high order book of around ₹22,000 crore, involving building 65 ships, with bulk of the orders for making 14 Naval ships and 22 coastal ships for European clients including those from Germany, Norway, Cyprus and the Netherlands.
Apart from these, the company is focussed on making green ships and are already fulfilling orders from abroad for hydrogen fuel cell and methanol ships, electric ships, hybrid ships and other sophisticated ships – commissioning, support and operations vessels (CSOV) for a British and German-Cyprus clients.
While most of the green ship technologies involving fuel cell, methanol, and electric are being incorporated at present, and CSL uses them to make ships for the western markets, it is now looking at technology transfer agreements with a few European shipping technology companies to scale up and take up complete manufacturing of these new-age ships for both global and Indian markets.
The company is also planning to build a ship repair facility on the West Coast of India to cater to the demand from passing ships. Presently it has three small ship repair facilities in Mumbai, Port Blair and Kolkata.
As the maritime sector strives to decarbonise and reduce its carbon footprint, green ships that use less pollution-causing fuels, like green hydrogen, methanol, electricity, and hybrid batteries, are becoming popular.
Earlier this month, Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) laid the keel of India’s largest dredger, “DCI Dredge Godavari” marking a significant milestone in the country’s maritime capabilities. This Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD) with a hopper capacity of 12,000 cubic meters build for the Dredging Corporation of India Limited, is a major initiative under the ‘Make in India’s ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative of the Govt. of India.
– Marex Media