SCI orders 6 Anchor Handling, Towing and Supply ships from ABG Shipyard

Mumbai: The Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. (SCI) has placed orders for six Anchor Handling, Towing and Supply (AHTS) vessels with ABG Shipyard Ltd. today. SCI said that it selected ABG shipyard through competitive tendering process which was limited only for Indian shipyards. The vessels would be delivered in a phased manner from 2013 to 2014.

The vessels ordered by SCI are of 80 tonne bollard pull capacity each with superior specifications. These vessels will be able to offer the essential support and services for growth of the Indian Offshore industry.

In the offshore sector, SCI presently has a fleet of 12 vessels of which 9 vessels were acquired during the mid eighties. These vessels have been serving the oil exploration and production sector in India and the older vessels were upgraded by SCI with dynamic positioning systems, enabling the vessels to offer superior service to the oil industry. The present order of 6 vessels would serve as part replacement of these ageing assets after their phase out from the service. In addition to these 12 owned vessels SCI has on order 2 AHTS vessels of 80T capacity each, 3 AHTS of 120T capacity each and 2 PSVs. SCI has also been operating offshore vessels owned by ONGC, some of which are specialized vessels requiring high technical expertise for management. SCI has built up such required expertise through rigorous training of dedicated teams over the years. The present order for 6 nos. 80T capacity vessels mark SCI’s further interest in the offshore segment, which is growing at a rapid pace in the international as well as Indian context.

With the present order SCI’s order book position improves to 29 vessels, which include VLCCs, cellular containers vessels, bulk carriers and offshore vessels.