Cochin Shipyard Expands

(Avaitionweek) : India’s government-owned Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL) is gearing up for an expansion budgeted at Rs 500 crore ($111.1 million).
According to CSL sources, the expanded facility will be able to accommodate ships between 5,000-6,000 tons. “The work for the proposed ship-lift facility would come up in the next 1-2 years and we hope to ease the traffic in the port,” a senior official says. “The Indian navy’s Indigenous Aircraft Carrier [IAC] work is now underway at one of the dry docks at CSL.
The Aeronautical Development Agency and Indian navy are building a shore-based test facility (SBTF) at the Indian naval station in Goa for smooth trials of the Tejas Light Combat Aircraft naval variant. “The SBTF can also be called the ship-on-shore facility,” the official says. “The measurements and other dimensions of SBTF are based on the IAC.”
CSL hopes to “float-out” the IAC by the end of 2011 — marking a significant but delayed milestone for the Indian navy. “There were some unforeseen delays and hence we will have to wait for another year more for the IAC’s float-out,” a source says. “The work is in progress and we hope to get some more orders from the navy.”
A CSL source says that the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) signed a contract with CSL in October 2010 for the construction of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs). “The value of this contract is around Rs 1,500 crore [$333 million] and this is the biggest contract executed by ICG to strengthen the coastal security,” the source says. “We won this contract after competing with defense and private yards.”
The FPVs have a speed of 35 kt. and are 50 meters long. Under the contract, CSL will have to deliver the first FPV in 20 months, with one more to follow each month thereafter.