Can They or Can't They:Is there Any Shipyard in India capable of modular Shipbuilding

[Yusuf]

Back from my trip.

I can tell for sure that !7A will start next year. Expansion work and incorporation of modular technique is nearing completion. In fact a lot of work on the P 15A and P17 itself has been using modular technique i was told.

Work on 15 B is also going to start later this year as well. Its a follow up on the P 15 which is the Kolkata class destroyer.

From whatever access i had and could see ( no cameras or camera phone allowed inside), most of the boats under construction at MDL had their super structure complete. I am sure that the next 2 boats of P 17 will be handed over by next year. Shivalik will be handed over next month i think.

BR, yes the ADS is also using modular method of construction. So i was told.

 

[plugwater]

Navy concerned over delays in ship-building

The Indian Navy will commission the first Shivalik class frigate later this month. The project took over a decade to complete, highlighting the problems of time overruns being faced in domestic ship-building, a point stressed by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma.

The keel-laying for the first of the three Shivalik class ships was done in 2001, but its completion was delayed on account of a series of issues, including steel being sourced from outside and weapons systems. Defence Minister A.K. Antony is scheduled to commission the ship at Mumbai on April 29.
Delays expected

While naval officials maintained that delays in the first of the series are to be expected, the overall view is that the time taken by Indian ship-builders is much more than international standards.

In its latest report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence, for the second year in a row, noted that the Navy does not have the accepted force level of 138 ships determined in 1964.

The present strength of the Navy is 129, including 37 major war vessels such as a carrier, destroyers and frigates, 16 submarines, 59 minor war vessels and 17 auxiliary ships.

Recently, Admiral Verma told The Hindu that while there was a proactive system for approval by the government to build ships, the problem lay in converting these into deliverables.

"If you look at ship-building periods [in India], take frigates, destroyers, corvettes, and benchmark it against world standards [of] how much time it takes to finish [a project]of that size and complexity, there is a fair amount of catching up [to do]," he told The Hindu.

For instance, he said the Navy had ordered two fleet tankers being built by a shipyard in Italy, which was being done in two years flat.

Comparatively, this would take more time in India though labour is cheaper.

With the government's reluctance to engage overseas shipyards for building warships, the Navy came out with a document on the imperative to revitalise the domestic ship-building industry with suggestions to deal with the issue.

http://www.hindu.com/2010/04/18/stories/2010041855592200.htm

 

[Patriot]

GSM Moots $178 million Modernisation Plan

India Defence Online, New Delhi — The state-owned Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) will be embarking on a major modernisation drive and has requested the state government for additional land to pursue its project. GSL will initiate its infrastructure modernisation project in four phases at an estimated cost of $178 million. This modernisation drive will triple the capacity of GSL in terms of shipbuilding.

According to GSL officials, the first two phases of the project costing Rs.400 crore are at an advanced stage and are expected to be complete by this year end. The completion of the two phases will make GSL the first shipbuilding yard in the country to be equipped with a modern ship-lift facility for launching and docking of ships.

As for the remaining two phases of modernisation, it involves infrastructure for the Mine Counter Measure Vessel (MCMV) project of the Indian Navy. GSL is expecting this to progress as and when the Indian Navy finalises the MCMV project.

GSL has major plans up its sleeves including an upcoming shore-based training facility project at the INS Hansa, Goa. GSL will be working with the Aeronautical Development Agency, Bangalore and it will be the main integrator of this facility. Besides, GSL is also eyeing export markets for its entire range of products such as the damage control simulator, fast interceptor craft, patrol vessels and offshore patrol vessels. GSL has already made its presence felt in South Asia, Africa and the Gulf region.

In March this year, GSL had launched the indigenously designed and built 'ICGS Vishwast', the first of a new class of offshore patrol vessel (OPV). This was the only vessel of this class in the world. The ICGS Vishwast was primarily designed for patrolling and policing maritime zones, search and rescue operations, maritime surveillance, anti-smuggling operations, pollution response against oil spillage and external fire-fighting. GSL has also built the 105 M advanced offshore patrol vessel (AOPV) for the Coast Guard, the largest ever designed and constructed AOPV class of vessel in India.

Indian defence news and strategic intelligence




GSM Moots $178 million Modernisation Plan | India Defence Online

 

[keshtopatel]

AFAIK we are far behind the PRC as far as tonnage of ships being constructed annually is concerned, you could question him/them on how this growing gap is planned to be arrested.

World wide numero uno DWT status :

Commercial shipping, its Korea del Sur, Naval warfare Ships, US of A.


India vs China:

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[Energon]

Based on what little I know about this topic, it seems to me that the bottleneck in modernization isn't financial or technical but rather human resource and industry management. India could have very easily built a ship building industry rivaling China's or maybe even South Korea starting in the 70s had it not been for Indira Gandhi's idiotic policies that served a death knell to the manufacturing industry.

The legacies of wrong decisions still plague the country's industries and prevent it from performing at par with its true capabilities or becoming competitive in the global market. Unless these wrongs are corrected, there is no point in lamenting over India's (relatively) pathetic shipbuilding sector.