India: DCI Signs Contract with IHC for Procurement of Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger

Dredging Corporation of India Limited, a Government of India Undertaking under the administrative control of Ministry of Shipping has entered into Contract with IHC, Dredgers B.V., The Netherlands, for design, construction and supply of Trailer Suction Hopper Dredger having capacity of 5500 Cu.M at a total cost of about Rs.500Cr. The vessel is scheduled for delivery in Sept 14.

The contract was signed by Capt. S.S. Tripathi, CMD, DCI on 24 h February, 2011 at New Delhi in the presence of Thiru G.K.Vasan, Hon’ble Minister of Shipping, Shri K.Mohandas, Secretary (Shipping), Mr J J Roodenburg, Deputy Head of Mission, Royal Netherlands, Embassy, Board of Directors, DCI, Shri.A Korevaar, Director, Marketing and sales, IHC, The Netherlands along with other officials of Ministry, DCI and IHC. DCI is the premier dredging company in India and is among the top dredging companies in the world. It is the only dredging Company under the control of Government of India and caters to the needs of Major Ports, Navy, Shipyards etc. DCI is a Mini Ratna Public Sector Undertaking and has been awarded MOU rating of “Excellent” by the Government of India for performance for the year 2009-10.

DCI was established in the year 1976 and has been a consistent profit making Company. The paid-up capital of the Company is Rs.28Cr. The profit of the Company is Rs.70Cr for the year 2009-10 with a turnover of about Rs.700Cr. The company has paid a dividend of 30% for the year 2009-10. DCI presently owns 10 Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers, 3 Cutter Suction Dredgers, 3 Survey Launches, 1 Tug and other ancillary crafts. Earlier in April 2010, DCI has signed a contract with IHC Dredgers B.V. for construction of two TSHDs of each 5500 cu.m capacity at total cost of about Rs.1000Cr. The vessels are scheduled to be delivered in Dec’ 2012 and June’2013 respectively. At present the preparation of design and construction drawings for the vessels are under progress. The dredgers are being funded by DCI from internal sources and external commercial borrowings.

The above three are medium size dredgers and are most suited to Hooghly river dredging in Kolkata Port. DCI has recently taken delivery of one Cutter Suction Dredger constructed by Mazagaon Dock Ltd, Mumbai at a cost of about Rs.275Cr. The construction of one Back Hoe dredger by Ship Yard “De Donge”, The Netherlands at a cost of about Rs.125Cr. is complete and the dredger is under tow to India. These two dredgers have been funded solely from internal resources.

With the addition of the new TSHDs, DCI will phase out some of its old dredgers. Thus DCI is poised to own and operate the most efficient and modern dredging fleet in India. DCI is also constantly recruiting and training required manpower to operate and manage its fleet. As DCI Ltd is the only PSU in dredging field it is a source of trained manpower not only to Indian dredging companies but also some of the foreign companies. DCI endeavors to participate in most of the dredging contracts in India which results in lowering the dredging rates and thereby benefits ports / navy / shipyards. Thus DCI contributes to Indian economy by assisting in lowering the cost of transportation of goods by sea.

DCI is also planning for acquiring higher capacity Trailer suction hopper dredgers in future which are suitable for deep draft ports. DCI is also planning to acquire small capacity multi utility dredger to cater for dredging in the shallow areas, fishing harbours etc, With the acquisition of aforementioned dredgers, DCI is confident not only to cater for any type of dredging requirement in India but also abroad.

[mappress]

Source: dredge-india, February 25, 2011