Cochin Shiyard building 4 vessels for Andaman & Nicobar

Cochin Shipyard is constructing four passenger-cum-cargo vessels for Andaman & Nicobar (A&N) under the 'Make in India' initiative.
"As per orders placed by the A&N Administration, two of these vessels will have a capacity of 500 persons-cum-150 tonne cargo and the remaining two will have a capacity of 1,200 persons-cum-1,000 tonne cargo," the Ministry of Shipping said in a statement today.
These vessels will have state-of-the-art facilities for passengers and comply with latest international/national rules and regulations.
They will be fitted with diesel electric propulsion plants driving two azimuth thrusters for good manoeuvrability.
"The smaller vessels of 500 passenger capacity will be ocean going for all weather operation, and be employed in Northern and Southern group of A&N Islands or for inter island service They will also be capable of making occasional voyages between mainland and islands. The construction of these vessels is on," the statement said.

The construction of the larger set of vessels with 1,200 passenger capacity will start in June 2017.
These vessels will ply between mainland and the islands and will also be capable of making international voyages.
"All efforts are being made to put the vessels into service ahead of their scheduled delivery year of 2020," the government said.