Mumbai: Pentagon Marine Services has planned to set up a ship-repair and maintenance hub in Gujarat that can egress the requirements of 1800 ships that call at the large ports of the state every year.
“There are shipping building and breaking facilities in Gujarat. What the state lacks is a dedicated repair hub. We are looking to acquire 30 acres of land to set up a wet dock that can tap the service requirements of 1800-odd ships that annually call at the ports in the state,” said Captain Nalin B Pandey, CMD, Pentagon Marine Services. The company is currently in the process of identifying land.
The company is already working with the Gujarat Maritime Board and will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government during the Vibrant Gujarat Summit 2015 in January. “We expect to identify the land by March 2015 and operationalise by 2018. We will be pumping Rs 50 crore in the first phase of the project,” Pandey added.
The proposed facility is initially targeting to service ships of 35000-50000 DWT (Dead Weight Tonnage). ” We are initially targeting to handle about 50-60 ships annually. Painting will be one of the biggest activities that we will undertake. We will also be doing plumbing, welding, carpentry, motor repairs and other services of the ships and vessels,” he said.
Apart from the ship-repair facility, the firm is also looking to set u pa maritime training institute that will offer pre-sea training course to young students on careers in merchant navy, port administration, etc. The company already runs a maritime institute in Mumbai.
