Shipyards full, SCI orders halved

The Mumbai-based company has placed orders for less than Rs 7,000 crore of vessels as against a planned investment of Rs 14,000 crore earmarked for the Plan ending March 2012.

"So far, we have placed order for 28 ships costing around $1.6 billion," said S Hajara, chairman and managing director of SCI.

Indian flag carriers have been losing out on shipping orders as they lack vessels. These carriers have the first right of refusal to carry domestic cargo. Still, they could cover only 14 per cent of the domestic cargo business.

Again, cost of ships have near doubled in the last three years. For example, the price of a Capesize bulk carrier used for transporting iron ore and coal has increased to $130-140 million from $60 million three years back.

"Shipyards are full and the unavailability of second-hand vessels would impose a big challenge for acquiring new vessels," said Vikram Suryavanshi, shipping analyst with Karvy Stock Broking, a Mumbai-based brokerage.

This has led the company to diversify into ship-building. "We are planning a greenfield shipyard in the current financial year with a domestic or foreign partner," informed Hajara.

Out of the 28 ships of 2.4 million dwt capacity booked so far, the company is expecting the delivery of two container carriers and one very large crude carrier (VLCC) in October. Most of the remaining orders will be delivered from 2009 onwards, informed the company.