Bharati Shipyard News

Edelweiss Asset Reconstruction Company has taken over management control of Bharati Shipyard, says a report in ET. Edelweiss now controls 70% of the Indian yard’s debts. A month ago plans were made to change the yard’s name to Bharati Defence and Infrastructure as part of a new business direction making warships for the Indian Navy. Bharati’s difficulties started five years ago when it bought Great Offshore. The company piled on debts from then on and has struggled to repay them. It  warned on July 22 that it has become a “sick industrial unit” after its net worth eroded completely as on March 31, 2015. Bharati Shipyard, a company founded in 1973 by P C Kapoor and Vijay Kumar, and has appointed Sameer Kaji as interim CEO with a mandate to turn around the troubled shipbuilder.

Debt-laden Bharati Shipyard Ltd on Tuesday said it has filed a reference with the Board for Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR), since it has become a sick company after eroding its entire net worth. "The Company's Net Worth as on March 31, 2015 as per Audited Accounts presented before the Board has been eroded fully, hence as per definition under section 3(1)(0) of the Sick Industrial Companies (Special Provisions) Act, 1985 (SICA) the Company has become a Sick industrial Company," it said. Edelweiss ARC (Assets Restructuring Company), which has taken over major portion of the Debts of the Company from the Financing Banks, is assisting the Company in the revival by way of Restructuring and Additional Lending.

Last month Maritime Reporter spent some time with Vivek Seth, CEO, of Qatar-based Halul Offshore  Services Company, for his insights on the impact of low oil prices in the Middle East and beyond. What is your background? I became part of the Milaha family when I joined Halul Offshore in February 2014 as CEO. I am a second generation Marine Engineer. After sailing as a C/E I took my first shore job as Technical superintendent in Hong Kong for more than two years. Subsequently, I got my Masters in Business Administration from UK.

Indian shipbuilders buoyed by a renewed political will, a plan and funding to help the industry recover. It has been a long wait for the 28 shipbuilders in India to finally catch sight of  opportunities to sail back into the better financial waters. The newly elected Narendra Modi’s BJP’s party brought in a strong stable government, the first in nearly 30 years, and has given an unprecedented, massive boost in promoting Indian shipping in its recent Union Budget. Most industry stakeholders consider this to be a very positive and unexpected turn of events, as the previous succession of governments that have been largely unsupportive of all matters maritime, despite the industry crying itself hoarse for a level playing field to enable it to face cut-throat overseas competition.

India continues to grow as a global center of technological excellence, accounting for 10% of research and development and home to five of the top 10 science and technology schools in Asia. Govt of India, having a network of more than 50 laboratories deeply engaged in developing a range of technologies from electronic and computer sciences, through life sciences and materials, to marine research and development, will invest in a new scientific research platform vessel to be built by Bharati Shipyard, based in Mumbai. The Class XII merchant vessel will host scientists from various Indian government scientific laboratories. It will be used to carry out multipurpose research along the coastal sea belt of India.

Finland's Steerprop wins orders from Russia's Severnaya shipyard & the Bharati shipyard in India for ECO CRP propulsors. The orders are for the new generation ECO CRP propulsors that are designed to provide the finest efficiency and maneuverability at even the highest speeds. The combined value of these orders is approximately 10 million Euros. The multi-purpose vessel ordered by the Russian Federation will be powered by two SP 120 ECO CRP -propulsors to operate at speeds of roughly 18 knots.

Shipbuilding has always been close to his heart, but Vijay Kumar’s greatest desire is to see his country, India, exploit the benefits of shipbuilding for the greater good of India’s economy as a whole. To date, the shipbuilding business in India has come with more promise than production, with its market share at a mere one percent of global shipbuilding activity, Kumar, Managing Director of Bharati Shipyard Ltd., is determined to help grow the shipbuilding industry not just for the good of his company, but for the good of the country as a whole. He envisions, with government support, a dynamic growth in India’s shipbuilding market, projecting its output to soar to a global market share of between 5 to 7.5 percent in the next 10 years.

The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) has accepted delivery of the 80 T bollard pull OSV “M.V. SCI Mukta”. SCI had signed contracts for acquisition of four newbuilding with Bharati Shipyard Limited, India. The first two vessels, “m.v. SCI Panna” and “m.v. SCI Ratna” were delivered to SCI last year. “SCI Mukta” is the third vessel of the series. The fourth vessel is scheduled for delivery by June 2012. The latest vessel has a gross tonnage of 2,039 tonnes and deadweight of 1,966 tonnes, classed with IRS and been built to comply with the latest and most stringent international regulations. In the offshore sector, SCI presently has a fleet of 12 vessels of which 9 vessels were acquired during the mid eighties.

Shipbuilding companies ABG Shipyard Ltd and Bharati Shipyard Ltd missed Street estimates for the June quarter. ABG's net profit fell by 20% from the year-ago period to '38.41 crore, while that of Bharati fell 41% to '22.12 crore. ABG's net performance was hit by higher depreciation costs and an exceptional item worth '13.75 crore relating to a one-time loss booked on sale of shares in Great Offshore Ltd. ABG's depreciation costs increased to '13.66 crore from '4.53 crore last year on account of part capitalization of the project at its Dahej shipyard. Bharati's performance at the net level was hit mainly on account of 127% increase in interest costs to '54.68 crore. Revenue and operating profit margins at both firms increased.

According to a Jan. 7 report from Reuters, Indian shipbuilders are heading for another bleak year in 2010 amidst weak demand and prospects of order cancellations as the global economy struggles to emerge from a slowdown, analysts said. Bharati Shipyard remains a lone promising bet for investors on expectation its recent acquisition of Great Offshore Ltd. will boost its orderbook and cash flows. (Source: Reuters India)

“The maritime industry will become more and more important for India in the coming years,” said Tobias König, Founder and Managing Director of König & Cie. GmbH & Co. KG, an issuing house based in Hamburg, Germany. A representative of König will be present at the accompanying conference at SMM India 2009. This is the first shipbuilding trade fair on the Indian sub-continent, taking place under quality label of SMM, the leading shipbuilding fair. It is organised by Hamburg Messe und Congress GmbH (HMC) and the two partners and co-organisers INTER ADS Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd. (the largest Indian trade show organiser) and E. J. Krause & Associates, Inc. (a globally active U.S. event specialist), at the Bombay Exhibition Centre in Mumbai from 12 to 14 November 2009.

In Bangalore, offshore oilfield services firm Great Offshore Ltd has run into fresh trouble after Axis Bank Ltd walked out of a deal to lend Rs350 crore to the Mumbai-based firm for funding the purchase of an oil drilling rig, currently under construction at Bharati Shipyard Ltd. Axis Bank wanted the money back after ONGC cancelled the rig contract and also due to delay in completing the construction of the rig. (Source: livemint.com)

At a meeting during the World Maritime Technology Conference (WMTC) in Mumbai, India, a delegation of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) members including Society President Keith Michel, Executive Director Kimball, Naresh Maniar, Bruce Hutchison and Todd Grove met with members of the Institute of Naval Architects of India (INAI) at the offices of Bharati Shipyard Ltd. in downtown Mumbai to negotiate and sign a cooperative agreement between the two societies.

The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) will present the SNAME 2008 Annual Meeting October 15-17, 2008 in . This technical meeting will features new and expanded conference programming. In 2008, SNAME will celebrate its 115th anniversary. The theme of the SNAME 2008 Annual Meeting is ”Celebrating our Past, Engineering our Future”. A part of the conference programming will take a retrospective look at the range of changes and innovations that have taken place in the profession and industry over these past 115 years. The SNAME 2008 Annual Meeting educational programming will build on the strengths of SNAME’s technical integrity. In addition to these formal educational sessions the new 2008 Annual Meeting format will also include opportunities for peer-to-peer networking.

The ministry of shipping is considering reviving subsidy on shipbuilding to enable the industry to be globally competitive. Currently, ’s share of global shipbuilding orders stands a minuscule 1percent. The subsidy scheme had expired on August 14, 2007. T R Baalu, Union minister of shipping, road transport and highways, said the ministry is thinking of circulating a cabinet note on subsidy this week. The previous subsidy scheme provided a 30% incentive on the contract value of ocean-going merchant vessels more than 80 metres in length sold to Indian companies, and on all ships sold to foreign firms. A report by audit and consultancy KPMG on shipbuilding subsidies across the globe last year showed that Indian yards suffer a minimum cost disadvantage of 32-37% on the price of a typical ship.

Norwegian naval architects Vik-Sandvik have confirmed that the Cyprus-based company Norwegian Shipping Ltd has decleared options for additional two AHTS at Bharati Shipyard Ltd in India.Norwegian Shipping Ltd now has a total of four VS 4612 designs under construction at Bharati Shipyard.  The last two vessels will be delivered in February and June 2010. Source:  Offshore Shipping

Reports indicate that Hindustan Shipyard Ltd (HSL) of India is set to add naval ships to its order book. The defense ministry is keen to place orders for building naval ships at HSL and a decision is expected by next month, reports said. Mazgaon Docks Ltd, Garden Reach, Kolkata, Goa Shipyard and Cochin Shipyard build most of the naval ships. Among the private firms, ABG Shipyard has built some coast guard ships, while Bharati Shipyard has built some vessels for the Indian Navy. In this context, placing a few orders with HSL will ease the pressure somewhat. It plans to invest in modernizations of the facilities by acquiring more cranes, improving material handling, automation and improved infrastructure, in the next five years. Source: DNA

Sixty-Nine prominent shipping industry executives have been elected as new members of ABS. In addition, Rear Admiral David L. Brewer III, Commander, Military Sealift Command, U.S. Navy, was appointed as a member. This brings the ABS worldwide membership to 803. The members, each eminent in their maritime field of endeavor, provide broad governance and oversight of ABS. Members are drawn from various sectors of the marine, offshore and related industries worldwide. M.A. Marcelo P. S.A. Ghazi A. Al-Ibrahim, President, Mideast Shipmanagement Ltd. Giovanni Barbaro, Owner, Pietro Barbaro S.p.A. S.p.A. Giuseppe Bottiglieri, Managing Director, Bottiglieri Di Navigazione, S.p.A. Jae Cheol Byun, President, JSM International Ltd. Dr. Mauro Fernando Orofino Campos, President, Petroleo Brasileiro S.A.

The Tata group is looking at the possibility of entering the shipbuilding business even as India looks to boost its shipbuilding capabilities to meet growing global demand for cargo carrying ships. The Tata group has shown interest in building a shipyard near Shivrajpur in Gujarat after the state government invited expressions of interest from private firms, according to a senior Gujarat government official. The group, which makes everything from salt to cars, is conducting a feasibility study on the project, said people familiar with the matter who did not wish to be identified. Tata Steel Ltd makes steel, a key input for constructing ships.

India’s largest engineering and construction firm Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (L&T) is negotiating with global shipping fleet owners to build ships worth over $1b, but the company cannot finalize these orders because it still hasn’t received the requisite clearances for its shipyard from a local government. L&T plans to set up the country’s biggest shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu in an effort to tap growing domestic and global demand for ships. The company will invest around Rs3,000 crore in the shipyard and port project and will build cargo ships, warships and offshore oil rigs. The shipyard at Kattupalli will be capable of building 25 big ships in a year and repair another 50-60 ships.

Bharati Shipyard, the second largest private sector shipbuilder in India, is going slow on fresh orders for building ships since the company is booked to capacity till 2011. The company, promoted by two former naval architects - P C Kapoor and Vijay Kumar - has seen orders pouring in from France, Norway and other leading maritime nations. Bharati reportedly will also shortly announce a joint venture with Apeejay Surendra Group for a large shipyard on the east coast. This, however, will be for bigger cargo ships. The four shipyards Bharati owns in Ratnagiri, Goa, Kolkata and Mangalore will continue to build high technology vessels such as offshore vessels. [Source: http://sify.com]

Bharati Shipyard reportedly plans to set up a modern shipbuilding yard along India's eastern coast in a 50:50 joint venture with Apeejay Shipping, according to a report on http://www.domain-b.com.The proposed shipyard, expected to start operations in 2009, would build ships and also be a ship repairing business. India's shipbuilding industry is expected to touch the $20 billion milestone by 2020. (Source: http://www.domain-b.com)

Mumbai-based Bharati Shipyard and Apeejay Shipping have signed a 50:50 joint venture agreement for setting up large modern shipbuilding yard along the eastern coast. According to sources at Bharati Shipyard, they are in the process of finalizing the site and will be able to announce the location in the coming weeks. The shipbuilding venture between a reputed shipbuilder and a leading shipping company is expected to commence operations by first quarter of 2009. Bharati and Apeejay would jointly invest in the state of the art technology and modern shipbuilding and ship repair facilities and would have the capacity to build and repair vessels of all sizes up to VLCC. The JV will see an investment of Rs 2,000 crore in the new shipyard.