Indian Yard Books Diesel-Electric Series

The Dutch influence in the programme is all the greater for the adoption of a low-emission design developed in conjunction with Conoship International, and for the matchmaking and brokerage role accorded by the JR Shipping Group, as well as prospective commercial management of the planned flotilla by a Boomsma affiliate.

Construction has been assigned to the recently acquired shipyard at Mangaluru (Mangalore), which is due to start production under Chowgule ownership next spring. Deliveries to the Dutch/German partnership are due to commence in the autumn of 2025.

Designated the High Cube 8500 type, the capacious new breed promises a step change in efficiency in terms of cargo deadweight per energy unit relative to existing tonnage deployed in intra-European trade. Besides the operational flexibility inherent to the diesel-electric mode, the optimised system specified is claimed to reduce the propulsion power requirement by 50-60%.

According to Conoship, the design’s overall energy efficiency performance will cut CO₂ emissions by at least 50%, and potentially up to 90%. The design is prepared for future environmentally-advantageous measures and technologies, be it eConowind sail-assist propulsion, carbon capture, and/or banks of batteries.

The bridge and accommodation is arranged forward of the 13,900m³ (approximately 491,000ft³) single, box-like hold. Greater versatility as regards payloads will be conferred by the incorporation of a portable, complete tweendeck, and by equipping for open-top certification.

Domiciled at Sneek, in Friesland, Boomsma is a family-run business with a fleet of coasters and multi-purpose vessels up to 8,400dwt engaged throughout European waters, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, under the trading management of Rotterdam-based NewTide. For the Hamburg company Leonhardt & Blumberg, hitherto focused on the containership and product tanker markets, the Indian contract denotes a diversification into the short-sea dry cargo vessel sector.

Over the past 20 years, Chowgule has emerged as a leading producer of European-designed and -owned short-sea tonnage, having sold and built over 50 vessels for interests in the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the UK. The output has emanated entirely from the group’s Loutulim and Rassaim yards in Goa, which can construct ships of up to 7,000dwt and which have a full orderbook extending into 2027. A move to increased technical sophistication is evident in the current workload, including a 12-ship series of 5,350dwt diesel-electric hybrid cargo vessels for AtoB@C Shipping of Sweden.

Boomsma and Leonhardt & Blumberg are the launch customers for the Mangaluru Shipyard, the former New Mangalore Shipyard, purchased by Chowgule following the bankruptcy of shipbuilder Bharati Defence & Infrastructure. Acquired for Rs75 crore, the 49-acre facility is now the subject of a Rs125 crore upgrading programme, with Chowgule looking to get production under way there in January 2024.

Investment in Mangaluru is intended to make the yard an internationally competitive, efficient constructor of vessels in the 7,000-25,000dwt range, taking Chowgule’s shipbuilding arm into a new league.

Acknowledging the industry’s prospects as an economic generator and foreign currency earner, India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways provides certain subventions for shipbuilding contracts. It is understood that these can be enhanced in the case of what are ranked as ‘green’ ships.