Udupi Cochin Shipyard bags order to build four ships for Norwegian firm

UCSL wins order from Wilson ASA for 6,300-ton deadweight dry cargo vessels, with additional orders for more vessels.

Udupi Cochin Shipyard Limited (UCSL), a subsidiary of Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), has won an order from Wilson ASA, Norway, to design and construct four 6,300-ton deadweight (TDW) dry cargo vessels.

An agreement has also been entered into for an additional four vessels of the same type, which will be formally contracted by September 19, 2024. This is a follow-up order in continuation of the contract awarded in June 2023 for design and construction of six 3,800-TDW dry cargo vessels which are now at advanced levels of construction at the yard in Udupi, Karnataka. The overall project cost is worth around ₹1,100 crore and will be executed by September 2028, according to an official release.

The 100-metre-long vessels with 6,300 metric TDW will have a design draft of 6.5 metres. They will be designed by Conoship International, the Netherlands, and will be constructed as environment-friendly diesel electric vessels transporting general cargo in the coastal waters of Europe.

Wilson ASA is a short sea fleet operator in Europe and transports around 15 million tonnes of dry cargo across Europe. It operates a fleet of around 130 vessels, ranging from 1,500 to 8,500 TDW. UCSL has also received further orders of four 70-tonne bollard pull tugs as repeat orders from two firms, according to the release.