CSL builds two ferries for ASKO Maritime
Minister for Ports, Shipping & Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal has lauded Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) for its efforts on contributing towards technological and sustainable solutions for the shipping industry as well as building two Fully Electric Autonomous Ferries for ASKO Maritime AS of Norway. This is among the first such vessel contracts in the world.
He also appreciated CSL on the construction of the country’s first ever Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), INS Vikrant, which is on its second sea trials, after a highly successful first sea trial. CSL has also built three Floating Border Out-Posts (FBOP) for the Border Security Force.
Sonowal boarded the IAC during the course of the sea trials on 31 Oct 2021, and complemented CSL, Indian Navy, the various OEMs and all the other stakeholders involved in the project.
The IAC is the largest warship built in the country, having a displacement of about 40,000 tonnes. The ship is a mammoth steel structure of 21,500 tonnes of special grade steel developed indigenously and used in Indian Naval Ships for the first time. The enormity of the ship can be gauged from the appx 2,000 kms of cabling, 120 kms of piping and the 2,300 compartments available onboard.
The shipyard carried out the detailed engineering of the ship using advanced software which enabled the designer to get a complete 3D view of the compartments of the ship. It is the first time in the country that a ship of the size of an Aircraft Carrier has been completely modelled in 3D and production drawings are then extracted from the 3D model.
The vessel is powered by four gas turbines in a COGAG (Combined Gas and Gas) propulsion configuration. The IAC is equipped with numerous high end technologies including network centric distributed data processing and control systems, intricate Aviation Facility Complex, the state of the art weapons and sensors and also has one of the most powerful propulsion and power generation & distribution (PGD) systems to be installed on board any ship to be built in India.
Construction of the IAC has led to growth in indigenous design and construction capabilities besides development of a large number of ancillary industries.
The Minister also inaugurated ‘Smrithi’, the Ship Model Room at CSL premises, which portrays 50 years of CSL’s rich history. Smrithi exhibits the major vessels built by CSL over the past five decades. A Coffee Table Book based on CSL’shighly recognized CSR initiatives was also released by the Minister.
During the visit, Sonowal reviewed the yard’s performance and visited the Ship Building and Ship Repair facilities as well as inspected the International Ship Repair Facility being set up by CSL on Willingdon Island, Kochi. #manufacturing #technology #exports /fiinews.com
