The Dredging Corporation of India (DCI) has announced a significant investment of around Rs 2,000 crores to acquire two additional Trailer Suction Hopper Dredgers (TSHDs) from Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) in Kerala. This announcement coincides with the inauguration of the ‘DCI Dredge Godavari,’ touted as India’s largest TSHD, with a capacity of 12,000 cubic meters, developed in collaboration with Dutch firm Royal IHC.
The DCI Dredge Godavari is capable of dredging depths of up to 36 meters, which is expected to greatly enhance India’s capabilities in port deepening and land reclamation, thereby strengthening the national dredging ecosystem. DCI aims to increase its dredging operations from the current 60 million cubic meters, utilizing its fleet of ten TSHDs, to over 100 million cubic meters, eliminating reliance on foreign-flagged dredgers.
DCI Chairman M. Angamuthu expressed the company’s ambition to become a global leader in dredging, emphasizing plans to transition from maintenance to capital dredging. He also mentioned ongoing discussions with various port authorities, including Visakhapatnam and Paradip, regarding a Rs 500 crore rights issue with CSL.
In addition to the DCI Dredge Godavari, Cochin Shipyard launched two other vessels on the same day: the INS Magdala, an Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft, and a Hybrid Electric Methanol-Ready Commissioning Service Operation Vessel designed for offshore wind energy utilization.
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