Posted on January 22, 2024
Bustling with more than 8,000 workers constructing some of the most advanced shipping fleets until a decade ago, Gujarat’s shipyards are today a pale shadow of their prosperous past. Six out of the more than 10 shipyards in the state have downed shutters till date, including ABG Shipyard’s two facilities at Magdalla and Dahej, Pipavav Shipyard at Pipavav, and the Gujarat government-owned Alcock Ashdown’s facilities at Bhavnagar and Chanch in Amreli district.
The government is now trying to revive the sector by attracting new players and revising the 14-year-old ‘shipbuilding policy’.
A shipyard’s capacity is defined in terms of the number of ships built and the maximum carrying capacity of the built ship, measured in units of dead weight tonnage (DWT).
Until 2014, the state boasted a cumulative annual shipbuilding capacity of over 5.4 lakh DWT. Pipavav, with 4 lakh DWT capacity, was the biggest shipbuilder in the country. ABG Shipyard followed at a distance with 1.2 lakh DWT. Among state-run shipbuilders, Alcock Ashdown, with 15,000 DWT, was the third largest after Hindustan Shipyard (80,000 DWT) and Cochin Shipyard (1.1 lakh DWT). Shipyards in Gujarat could build vessels that were as big as 350 m long and 63 m wide. These included bulk carriers, oil tankers, tugs, barges, offshore supply vessels, floating cranes, pollution control vessels, and naval vessels.
