Many takers for ship-repair yard

KOCHI: The Cochin Port Trust’s (CPT) plan to develop a ship-repair yard at  Willingdon Island has attracted major companies in ship building sector.  Seven companies, both domestic and international, have responded to the  Expression of Interest (EoI) invited by the port trust two months ago.  Public sector undertaking Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) is one such company  that has evinced interest in the project.The CPT planned the ship-repair yard aiming to tap the opportunities in the  ship-building and repair industry. After Mangalore, Cochin Shipyard has the  only repairing facility in South India. The other facility lying nearby is in Colombo. The project is part of the master plan prepared by the port to re-develop  its waterfront and other facilities which are virtually lying idle after the  the Vallarpadam Transshipment Container Terminal was commissioned in February 2011. The development of the yard with required infrastructure for carrying out ship repair activities will be the responsibility of the BOT operator. The port will lease the workshop, dry dock and slipway to the successful bidder.   The Port Trust will provide 850 m of waterfront on the Mattanchery channel and 45 acres of adjoining land for the project. This is in addition to the existing workshop and other facilities. The land surrendered by the Food Corporation of India and the Timber Yard have been allotted for the purpose. The proposed yard will have the facility to service commercial vessels, offshore supply and service vessels, Coast Guard and Navy vessels, Port service vessels and dredgers of an overall length up to 165 m and beam width up to 26 metres.“Submitting an Expression of Interest does not mean that CSL would be selected for the project,” said the port authorities.The CSL had initially evinced interest in the project and the managements of the port and shipyard held discussion. However, the idea was dropped by the  managements as the matter of absorbing employees remained unsolved. It is learnt that the CSL was ready to absorb only a few employees.