Four more heavy lifts for L&T

Reinforcing India?s growing stature as a shipbuilding nation, the country?s biggest engineering firm Larsen and Toubro Ltd (L&T) has won a contract valued at about $240 million (Rs962.4 crore) to build four specialized ships for Dutch company RollDock BV.

The contract involves a firm order for two vessels each with a capacity to carry up to 10,000 tonnes of modules for the offshore oil industry, and options for two more.

L&T?s brand-new shipbuilding facility in Hazira, Gujarat, is already building six 8,300 dwt multifunctional heavy transport vessels for RollDock and two 18,680 dwt heavy lift vessels for Amsterdam-based BigLift Shipping.

The Mumbai-based company launched its shipbuilding venture in May 2006 with an order for building four ships valued at Rs440 crore from Rotterdam-based Zadeko Ship Management CV (now known as RollDock BV). The Dutch firm placed a repeat order in August 2007 with L&T for two more ships valued at more than $70 million. L&T recently received the required approvals from the Tamil Nadu government to set up what will be the country?s biggest shipbuilding facility at Kattupalli in Thiruvallur district, near Chennai.

The proposed shipyard-cum-port project, which will cost more than Rs3,000 crore, will be capable of building 25 ships a year, including five very large crude carriers and 20 Panamax vessels. The yard will also be able to repair 50-60 ships a year.

L&T ventured into shipbuilding by converting part of its heavy engineering complex at Hazira into a yard that can build three mid-size ships with a cargo carrying capacity of 15,000-20,000 tonnes in a year. Although the company is now expanding the capacity of the Hazira yard to build six ships a year, it is unable to build bigger ships there.