Swan Defence To Complete Five Offshore Support Vessels
The project is expected to strengthen Indian flagged tonnage and offshore capability and to create maritime jobs while reinforcing the Government of India's vision of advancing indigenous self-reliant shipbuilding through targeted financial assistance and incentive schemes. It will also provide support to local vendors and service providers across the shipbuilding ecosystem.
The hulls were acquired by the company as part of the acquisition of Pipavav Shipyard through the National Company Law Tribunal process and were subsequently transferred to San Maritime. Construction of the vessels began under the previous regime and the revived shipyard is now completing them to demonstrate operational readiness and executional capability under new management.
Located on the west coast, the Pipavav shipyard offers the country's largest dry dock at 662 m by 65 m and a wet basin of 340 m by 60 m, together with a one point two km dedicated waterfront for berthing, docking and launching. These facilities support large scale fabrication and complex vessel integration at the yard.
Swan Defence and Heavy Industries Limited, formerly known as Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited, operates a fabrication capacity of 164,000 tonne (t) per annum and retains significant heavy fabrication capability. The company stated that it is committed to innovation, excellence, safety and sustainability while mobilising resources to support indigenous maritime capability.
The programme is expected to require a skilled workforce and to support ancillary industries such as fabrication, logistics and marine services, thereby catalysing supply chain activity in the region. It will also offer opportunities for workforce training and process improvements at the yard as work progresses.