The Danish shipping company Maersk will have ship repairs and newbuilds carried out in India in the future.
The container giant has signed a letter of intent with Cochin Shipyard, the country’s largest shipyard. The first repair order could be placed as early as this year.
First, however, the recently concluded memorandum of understanding is intended to explore opportunities for cooperation. The strategic partnership underlines the impending capacity bottlenecks in ship repair on the one hand, but also India’s goal of becoming one of the ten largest maritime nations by 2030 on the other. The aim is to be in the top 5 by 2047.
At the beginning of the year, a fund of almost 3 billion dollars was launched, with which India is planning massive investments in the shipping industry. Most recently, a new liner shipping company was announced, whose capacity may be able to compete with the market leaders.
Maersk places repair orders in India
According to a statement from Maersk, the No. 2 in global container shipping and a recent alliance partner of Hapag-Lloyd, this alliance comes at a critical time. The global shipping industry is facing major bottlenecks at repair yards, so the state-run Cochin Shipyard has become the focus of attention. As part of the agreement, the liner giant will use its expertise and opportunities in the global fleet to expand the capacities of the shipyard, which was founded in 1972 in the southwest of the country, in the maintenance and repair of container ships. Initially, the orders will focus on the repair of ships up to 7,000 TEU and 4,000 TEU in dry dock. These capacities are expected to be expanded over time.
