Cochin Shipyard to expand capacity with Rs 500 crore investment

KOCHI (PTI): The Public sector Cochin Shipyard Ltd is proposing to expand its existing capacity through a ship lift system with an investment of Rs 500 crore, a top official said Friday.

The new system is likely to come up at the northern end of the CSL estate and would be 120 metre long and able to accommodate ships up to 6,000 tonnes, CSL Chairman and Managing Director, Commodore K Subramaniam, told reporters here.

The project is likely to be taken up by next year.

The shipyard has two dry-docks. One of the docks is being used for the construction of the Indigenous Aircraft carrier of the Indian Navy and the other is used for ship building and ship repair. Once the ship lift system gets completed it is likely to ease the congestion in the dry-dock.

At present, the yard has orders for 34 ships consisting 14 Offshore Platform vessels for domestic and international owners and 20 Fast Patrol vessels for the Coast Guard totally valued at Rs 4,000 crore.

On India's first Indigenous Aircraft carrier being built at the CSL for the Navy, he said it is to be 'floated out' in December last year. But due to various reasons, it could not take place and will be floated out this year end, he said.

CSL is hoping to get more orders from the Indian Navy very soon, he said.

Recession did have an impact on the shipyard as it did not receive any orders from 2008 to September 2010. After Sept 2010, the yard received orders for 24 ships of the 34 ships.

The effect of recession will be felt this year and the next year. "We had a very good growth in the last 5 years.

That will not be there this year and the next year. But our performance would not be affected." he said.

The shipyard's shipbuilding income increased to Rs 1,012 crore in 2009-10 from Rs 222 crore in 2005-06.

CSL has been diversifying into new areas of construction and repairs over the last few years and had successfully completed two major ship conversion projects, one for a Singapore based owner and the other for National Institute for Oceanography, Goa. The former was a conversion of a fishing vessel to research vessel and the latter was a conversion of fishing vessel to a seismic survey one.

The CMD said the shipyard was also exploring the eastern and western coasts to set up ship repair facilities.

On the eastern coast they were looking at Tamil Nadu, he said.

The shipyard has also acquired 220 acres to set up ship building facility at the proposed Vizhinam Port at Thiruvananthapuram, he said.

BRAHMOS Block-III to be inducted in 12th plan: A K Antony

NEW DELHI (BNS): The Block-III version of the BRAHMOS supersonic cruise missile is likely to be inducted (in the Indian Defence forces) in the 12th plan, Defence Minister A K Antony told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

He added that, the Block-I and II versions of the BRAHMOS missile are already in service with the Indian Army.

The Minister also informed Parliament that, the supersonic cruise missile has been tested successfully for application in Indian Navy and Army.

"On 2nd December 2010, Block-III version of the missile was test fired to establish the steep dive capability of the missile with large manoeuvres. The mission was accomplished successfully, establishing a unique capability of supersonic dive in mountain operations," A K Antony said, according to a PIB news report.

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Mooring trails for Indian carrier

After near a decade long rebuilding, the mooring trails of aircraft-carrier Admiral Gorshkov starts in Severodvinsk.

The large former Soviet aircraft carrier has been a headache for the naval yard in Severodvinsk all time since Russia in 2004 signed the agreement to sell and rebuild the vessel to the Indian navy.

Read also: Indian officer in Severodvinsk honey-trap

Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk and the Indian navy have both disagreed on costs and time-schedule for the aircraft carrier that sailed for the Soviet / Russian navy from 1987 to 1994.

It is believed that India will pay Russia some $2.2 billion for Admiral Gorshkov.

Press-service of Sevmash says the mooring trails for the vessel started on March 1st. The yard says this is a serious step in the modernization of the vessel that now enters its final rebuilding step.

Tests of the main machinery will be the most difficult part of the ongoing tests, says Anastasia Nikitinskaya, head of press service at Sevmash.

If the tests at quay prove successful, Admiral Gorshkov will sail for sea trails out in the White- and Barents Seas in the autumn this year.

Once the aircraft carrier sails to Indian waters, it will be renamed INS Vikramaditya.

INS Vikramaditya started mooring trials

Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya which is retrofitted for Indian Navy started mooring trials on March 1. Sevmash shipyard's director general Nikolai Kalistratov signed an order to begin the trials. 

This is an essential milestone in the carrier's modernization particularly marked in the general schedule. Outfitting works have reached the final stage. The ship has been gradually filled with equipment, mechanisms, pipelines, cables; and now all those systems must be tested in different modes. 

The trials will be conducted in accordance with special programs and techniques. Tests of main propulsion plant are considered the most complicated and important. The second large-scale goal is testing of radioelectronics, including Indian-made systems, and air-technical facilities. The main purpose of mooring trials is preparation of shipborne systems for further important stage – shipyard's sea trials. The aircraft carrier is planned to take the sea late in 2011.