Century plans second facility

Century Shipyard is reportedly planning to build a second shipbuilding facility in Kerala on the south-west coast of India, at an investment of between $70m and $75m.

The greenfield yard will construct offshore vessels including small and medium-size anchor-handlers of up to 80-tonnes bollard pull and 4,500-bhp offshore-supply vessels (OSVs).

Officials say it will be capable of building up to seven vessels a year of between 120 and 150m in length. The yard is expected to be completed by December 2010. Officials say it is planned to occupy over 20 acres and will initially take orders for small vessels. They add that financing will not be a problem as funds have already been sourced from domestic banks and other financial institutions.

Century already has a yard at Panavally, near Kochi in Kerala, building small cargoships of between 9,000 and 10,000 DWT, ro-ros and small tugs. It employs around 120 workers.