Cochin Shipyard Mulls to Build LNG and High-Speed Ships
Indian state owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) is in talks with global players to join hands for a bid for the GAIL contract for LNG contained vessels. It also in talks the Australian company Incat for a technical tie-up to manufacture high-speed passenger vessels.
CSL is one of the three yards bidding for Gas Authority of India’s tender for building LNG ships in India. CSL is in discussion with global players to join hands for the bid for LNG contained vessels. A Kochi (Cochin)-based company has come up with a design for LNG vessels and the same will also be evaluated, Union Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari said.
With the technical tie-up of Australian company Incat, CSL plans to build high-speed vessel. The light weight vessels are initially for Lakshadweep Administration to operate on the Kerala-Lakshadweep route. The high-speed vessel could halve the voyage time between Kochi and various Lakshadweep islands. Currently, the ships operated by Shipping Corporation of India take about 24 hours.
The government was trying to stitch collaborations with Korean and Australian companies for the construction of lightweight vessels and Hovercraft, the minister said.
The CSL needs a good order backup to carry out its expansion plans, which demands a considerable investment. The minister said he had already requested defense minister Manohar Parikkar to give more orders to CSL.
