Cochin small ship division gets green light

The Union Government has approved the proposal of the Cochin Shipyard (CSL) for the creation of a Small Ship Division in the yard. The project, to be set up at an investment of Rs 98 crore, is expected to be completed by mid-2009. Equipment required for the project has already arrived and on completion, it would help the shipyard to undertake concurrent construction of small commercial ships with the aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy, which is at present under construction, CSL officials said.

Meanwhile, CSL recently delivered another Platform Supply Vessel ?Sea Turbot? to Deep Sea Supply, Norway. This is the seventh of a series of eight ships being built for this owner. The first ship of the series was delivered in January 2007. The PSVs are of the popular UT- 755-L design for the offshore industry and are considered to be the workhorse of the offshore oil field industry which acts as a lifeline carrying all operational supplies and stores to far off offshore installations.

The yard is also in the process of constructing 20 other offshore vessels for European/American clients valued at over Rs 3,000 crore. CSL also delivered two ships so far during the year 2008-09 and plans to deliver another seven ships during the year. The company?s performance continues to be impressive in terms of meeting contractual delivery schedules while maintaining high quality standards.