Garware Offshore plans JV with Havyard

Mumbai-based Garware Offshore Services Ltd plans to enter the shipbuilding business by setting up an exclusive facility for constructing offshore support vessels. This shipbuilding yard will be a joint venture with Norway-based ship manufacturer Havyard Leirvik AS, a subsidiary of Havyard Group AS. Havyard Leirvik builds offshore vessels, ice-breaking ships and other types of specialized vessels.

???This could be a 50:50 joint venture, and the company is considering various sites in Gujarat,?? said a spokesperson involved with the developments. ???We have been building ships for Garware. Now we are looking at cementing this relationship through other alternative investment options together. However, nothing has been finalized,?? said Captain Geir Johan Bakke, president and CEO of Havyard Group.

Garware Offshore had recently signed an agreement with Havyard Leirvik for exclusive representation for the marketing and sale of ships built by them and ship designs produced by Havyard Maritime AS to Indian shipping companies and yards. According to the Shipyards Association of India, shipbuilding in India will entail a total investment of around $9.4 billion by 2012, and around $56 billion by 2017. Leading shipbuilding yards in the country include ABG Shipyard Ltd, Bharati Shipyard Ltd, Larsen & Toubro Ltd, Tebma Engineering Ltd, Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Chowgule & Co. Pvt. Ltd, Dempo Shipbuilding & Engineering Works Ltd and Modest Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd.

Apart from existing players, the???Tata Group, Shipping Corp. of India Ltd, the Jindal Group, Mercator Lines Ltd, Shapoorji Pallonji & Co. Ltd and the Adani Group are also entering the shipbuilding business. The Gujarat state-controlled Gujarat Maritime Board is planning to set up 100 shipyards in 10 industrial clusters in the next five years.

Garware Offshore has so far sold four designs to ABG Shipyard. ???We are in advanced talks with a leading shipyard for selling four more designs that will be followed by another four,?? said Garware. The company has plans to set up a knowledge process outsourcing centre in India in collaboration with Havyard, which will design all types of marine assets. At present, Havyard is building two offshore ships for Garware Offshore.