Cochin Shipyard Ltd is constructing four passenger-cum – cargo vessels for Andaman & Nicobar Administration under the ‘Make in India’ initiative of Government of India. As per orders placed by the A&N Administration, two of these vessels will have a capacity of 500 persons-cum-150 tonne cargo and the remaining two will have a capacity of 1200 persons-cum-1000 tonne cargo.
These vessels will have state of the art facilities for passengers and comply with latest international/national rules and regulations. They will be fitted with diesel electric propulsion plants driving two azimuth thrusters for good manoeuvrability.
The smaller vessels of 500 passenger capacity will be ocean going for all weather operation, and be employed in Northern and Southern group of A&N Islands or for inter island service They will also be capable of making occasional voyages between mainland and islands. The construction of these vessels is on.
The construction of the larger set of vessels with 1200 passenger capacity will start in June, 2017. These vessels will ply between mainland and the islands and will also be capable of making international voyages.
The construction of these vessels is going on in full swing and the progress is being closely monitored by a committee with members from Cochin Shipyard, Shipping Corporation of India and Andaman and Nicobar Administration with the Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping as Chairman of the Committee. All efforts are being made to put the vessels into service ahead of their scheduled delivery year of 2020.