Cochin Shipyard
Encyclopedia
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. It is part of a line of maritime related facilities in the port-city of Kochi
Kochi
-Places:* Kochi, a city in the state of Kerala, India, formerly known as Cochin* Kingdom of Cochin, a former feudal city-state on Malabar Coast, India** Fort Kochi, one of the three main urban components which constitute the present day city of Kochi, Kerala, India...
, in the state of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Of the services provided by the shipyard are building platform supply sessels and double-hulled oil tankers". Presently it is building the first indigenous aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
for the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
.
Cochin Shipyard was incorporated in 1972 as a Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
company, with the first phase of facilities coming online in 1982. The yard has facilities to build vessels up to 1.1 Million tons and repair vessels up to 1.25 Million tons, the largest such facilities in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
The shipyard also trains graduate engineers in marine engineering
Marine propulsion
Marine propulsion is the mechanism or system used to generate thrust to move a ship or boat across water. While paddles and sails are still used on some smaller boats, most modern ships are propelled by mechanical systems consisting a motor or engine turning a propeller, or less frequently, in jet...
. Around hundred students are trained each year.
Ship Building
The first ship to roll out of the Cochin Shipyard was the MV Rani Padmini in 1981.The yard has delivered two of India’s largest double hull
Hull (watercraft)
A hull is the watertight body of a ship or boat. Above the hull is the superstructure and/or deckhouse, where present. The line where the hull meets the water surface is called the waterline.The structure of the hull varies depending on the vessel type...
Aframax
Aframax
An ' ship is an oil tanker smaller than and with a breadth above 32.31 m. The term is based on the Average Freight Rate Assessment tanker rate system. class tankers are largely used in the basins of the Black Sea, the North Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the China Sea and the Mediterranean...
tanker
Tanker (ship)
A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...
s each of .
CSL has secured shipbuilding orders from internationally renowned companies from Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. The shipyard is building six bulk carriers for Clipper Group
Clipper Group
Clipper Group is a shipping company based in the Bahamas which owns and manages a fleet of 250 ships worldwide. In 2002 Clipper Group acquired full ownership of Irish Sea ferry operator Seatruck Ferries.-Subsidiaries:...
of the Bahamas and the first three vessels have been launched.
Eight platform supply vessel
Platform supply vessel
A Platform supply vessel is a ship specially designed to supply offshore oil platforms. These ships range from 20 to 100 meters in length and accomplish a variety of tasks...
s for Sea Tanker Management Co Ltd, Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
are also under construction.
CSL is also building the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
’s first indigenous Vikrant class aircraft carrier. Work on the 40,000 tons carrier commenced in February 2009
Ship Repair
The shipyard started offering ship repair services in 1982 and has undertaken upgrades and repairs for all types of ships including ships for the oil explorationOil exploration
Hydrocarbon exploration is the search by petroleum geologists and geophysicists for hydrocarbon deposits beneath the Earth's surface, such as oil and natural gas...
industry as well as scheduled maintenance and life extension for ships of the Indian Navy
Indian Navy
The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...
, Indian Coast Guard
Indian Coast Guard
The Indian Coast Guard is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and maritime law enforcement with jurisdiction over both territorial and international waters....
, UTL, Fisheries and Cochin Port Trust
Cochin Port Trust
The Port of Kochi is a major port on the Arabian sea - Indian Ocean sea-route and is one of the largest ports in India. The port lies on two islands in the Lake of Kochi namely the Willingdon Island and Vallarpadam, towards the Fort Kochi river-mouth opening onto the Arabian sea...
, SCI
SCI
-Companies:*SCi, formerly Sales Curve Interactive, a video game developer*Sanmina-SCI, an Electronics Manufacturing Services company*Sequential Circuits Inc, a synthesizer company*Service Corporation International, a large company in the funeral industry....
& ONGC. It has performed major overhauls for the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
, INS Viraat
INS Viraat
INS Viraat is a Centaur class aircraft carrier currently in service with the Indian Navy. INS Viraat is the flagship of the Indian Navy, the oldest carrier in service and one of two aircraft carriers in the Indian Ocean Region.The Viraat was completed and commissioned in 1959 as the Royal Navy's...
.
Recently CSL bagged major maintenance and upgrade orders from ONGC. This included major overhaul of three rigs, Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit (MODU) Sagar Vijay, Mobile Offshore Drilling Unit Sagar Bhushan and Jackup Rig
Jackup rig
A jack-up rig is a type of mobile platform that is able to stand still on the sea floor, resting on a number of supporting legs. The most popular designs use 3 independent legs, although some jackups have 4 legs or more...
Sagar Kiran.
Upcoming ventures
Cochin Shipyard is to build India’s first indigenuous Aircraft CarrierAircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
. The Vikrant class aircraft carrier (formerly, the Project 71 "Air Defence Ship" (ADS)) are the first aircraft carriers of the Indian Navy to be designed and built in India. The Vikrant class carriers will be the largest warships built by CSL.
Work on the lead vessel of the class started in 2008, and the keel was laid in February 2009. Eighty percent of works on the carrier will be completed before its launch in 2010. The first carrier of the class was expected to enter service by 2012, but was delayed by a year reportedly due to the inability of Russia to supply the AB/A grade steel. This led to SAIL creating facilities to manufacture the steel in India. In August 2009 the military purchasing publication Defence Industry Daily reported that the in-service date had slipped to at least 2015.
The keel for the lead vessel of the class, INS Vikrant, was laid by the defence minister A.K Antony at the Cochin Shipyard on 28 February 2009. The ship will use modular construction. A total of 874 blocks will be joined together to speed up the building process. By the time the keel was laid, 423 blocks weighing over 8,000 tons, were completed.
The vessel will be launched in 2010 when it would have completed some 20,000 tonnes, including the hull, as it cannot be launched at a higher displacement from the building bay. After about a year’s development in the refit dock, it will be launched again when all major components and everything underwater would be in place. Only outfitting would then remain. As per the CCS (Cabinet Committee on Security) plan, sea trials were initially planned to commence in 2013, with the ship to be commissioned in 2014.
The order for the second aircraft carrier in the series is expected to be placed by 2010. The second carrier is planned to be inducted into the Indian Navy by 2017. The second aircraft carrier is said to be of higher tonnage of above 50,000 tons and will utilise steam catapults. A 65,000-tonne IAC-II is on the drawing board. ‘‘It will be much bigger and capable of operating fighters, AEW (airborne early-warning) aircraft, tankers etc,’’ Admiral Verma said.