The Union Minister for Shipping, Road Transport & Highways, Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari and Kerala Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan laid the foundation for India’s largest Dry Dock at Cochin Shipyard in Kerala. The Dry Dock will give an impetus to “Make in India” initiative under Sagarmala and raise India’s share in global shipbuilding to 2 percent. India currently occupies 0.66 % share in global shipbuilding market.
The commercial ship building industry in India is worth Rs. 3,200 crore and focuses primarily on small-medium sized offshore vessels and cargo/bulk carriers. At present, Cochin Shipyard has two dry docks, one predominantly used for ship building of size 255m x 43 x 9m and capacity 1,10,000 DWT and the other one for ship repair of size 270 x 45 x 12m and capacity 1,25,000 DWT.
The new Dry Dock is being constructed at a cost of Rs 1799 crore. It will be 310 m long, 75m wide, with a depth of 13 m and drought of 9.5m. The dock will be designed to handle both ship building and repairs, and bear a load up to 600 T/m. It will be equipped with international safety standards.
Source :- Dailyshippingtimes.com
