The tug is the fourth in a row of four. Inialy constructed to operate in Dabhol, India for a contract with ENRON, she now will start operations in the middle east. Though the project had her ups and down the pictures show a fine solid tug.

IJmuiden, Februari 2004

Extracts from Publications

Private shipyards riding on freight market boom by Amit Mitra Mumbai , Jan. 11

SIZE does matter — at least as far as the Indian shipbuilding industry is concerned. While the big public sector shipyards in the country are smarting under a frail order book position, their smaller counterparts in the private sector that are engaged in building smaller vessels are being bolstered by a surge in demand.

Interestingly, the private shipyards are getting an increasing flow of orders from foreign companies for smaller vessels, as worldwide the big shipyards are full with new building orders. "While the PSU shipyards engaged in building large vessels are non-competitive in the global market due to their cost over-runs and Government restrictions, it makes sense for foreign ship owners to place orders for smaller vessels on Indian yards due to the cheap labour costs and efficient working," an industry analyst pointed out.

There are about 30 to 35 shipyards in the private sector in the country, of which ABG, Bharati Shipyard, Western India, Chowgule and Stebma, are the leading players. Most of them, especially ABG and Bharati Shipyard are sitting on rich order books.

The healthy trend is prompting many private shipyards to think in terms of expansion or acquiring other shipyards. ABG, for example, is investing Rs 375 crore for setting up a new shipyard in Gujarat. "Work has already started and it is expected to be operational by 2006. We see interesting possibilities in the shipbuilding and ship repair market in the coming months," Mr Rishi Agarwal, Managing Director of the company, told Business Line.

Along with the shipbuilding industry, the ship repair industry is also riding on an upbeat market. "This is so especially in the wake of the growing fear of pollution and stricter norms and regulations on ocean-going vessels. We expect a further spurt in ship repair orders in the coming years," says Mr S.K. Shahi, Chairman of SKS (Ship) Ltd. The company is planning to set up a new ship-repair unit with Danish collaboration.
While it is the boom in the freight market that is the primary driver of growth in the shipbuilding market, the cheap labour costs in India are also prompting foreign companies to have their ships built here. The labour cost per worker in India is at present estimated at $1,192 per year, while it is $10,743 and $21,317 per day in Korea and Singapore (both leading shipbuilding nations) respectively.