State-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL), India's top warship builder, has picked Dutch engineering company Royal HaskoningDHV, to provide comprehensive design and project management services for the construction of two new shipbuilding and repair yards in Mumbai in a Rs 5,000-crore expansion plan to help undertake large size ship orders.

The design and project management deal are worth around Euro 9 million.

This project will integrate MDL's existing shipyard with the two new facilities to create a mega-yard that will include the largest shipbuilding dry dock in India, capable of accommodating the next generation of aircraft carriers.

"Driving this expansion is our growing order book and need for new shipbuilding and repair facilities," said Biju George, Director of Shipbuilding at MDL.

Royal HaskoningDHV will support MDL's expansion plans by providing shipyard planning, geotechnical and environmental surveys and detailed engineering for the two new shipyards, as well as procurement consultancy services and project supervision. The projects will expand the shipyard using environmentally sustainable designs and support job creation in the local community.

Giant dry dock

The larger of the two shipyards is the Nhava Yard, a 40-acre greenfield site across the channel from MDL's existing shipyard on the island city.

This yard will comprise up to 30 buildings, including dry berths, fabrication facilities, workshops, stores, utilities, plant and machinery. It will include a giant dry dock, expected to measure nearly 600-m long and 60-m wide, capable of accommodating large vessels. This makes it suitable for aircraft carriers and the largest Suezmax tankers and bulk carriers. The Nhava Yard will be used for defence and commercial shipbuilding and repairs and is expected to employ around 1,500 additional people.

The second yard, known as the South Yard Annexe, is smaller in size and adjacent to MDL's existing facility. It will also be a shipbuilding and ship repair yard with a wet-basin-cum-drydock, hard stands, and waterfront jetty with roll-on/roll-off facilities for loading and unloading vessels using a floating dock, barges, or submersibles. This facility, which houses the former British-built repair facility, with the Clarke's Basin, has been leased from the Mumbai Port Authority by MDL for 30 years. Around 500 additional people will be employed there.

In addition, both new facilities will result in supporting ancillary industries and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises from innovative technology start-ups to steelmaking that will support the yards.

"These best-in-class yards will have the flexibility to function independently and be able to work together as a single integrated yard, meaning three yards can each work on different modules of the same vessel at the same time. This modular construction approach can reduce lead times and cost, further strengthening the call to 'Make in India," said George.

"Building any shipyard comes with environmental risks, so an important aspect of this project is to perform rigorous environmental risk and impact assessments and to ensure that we design facilities with a low carbon footprint while being climate resilient," said Aslam Bijapur, Director India and Bangladesh at Royal HaskoningDHV.

Mazagon Dock, Singhal said, is "gainfully utilizing" the cash balance of some Rs4,000 crores for capacity enhancement.

"Whatever infrastructure is being created; this is being created for large size ships. And as per the requirement, whatever submarines are required, that can be handled with the same infrastructure, because submarines are smaller in dimension," Singhal stated.

"We are looking for export orders. We are looking for commercial (orders). And, we are looking for repairs of large vessels, which currently we are not in a position to undertake," he added.

Source: ET Infra. Com

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