Union Minister of Port, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday (16 August) dedicated the newly built state-of-the-art ship building facility of Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited (HCSL) at Nazirgunge, Howrah, West Bengal to the nation.

The Rs 180 crore HCSL facility, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cochin Shipyard Ltd, was set up by reviving the two-century old HDPEL ship building yard at Nazirgunge.

"HCSL is equipped with sophisticated equipment, experienced workforce as well as QA/QC, NDT and Fire and Safety Systems," the Shipping Ministry said in a release.

"HCSL has obtained IMS Certification (ISO 9001-2015 – Quality Certification, ISO 14001-2015 – Environment Safety & ISO 45001-2018 – Health and Safety Certification)," the ministry added.

The facility is strategically located with both slipway launching (upto 80 metres) and side launching facilities (upto 110 metres) as well as outfitting jetties.

It will serve the inland water transport sector by construction of inland water vessels for transport of men & material along and across the National Waterways, mainly Ganga (NW1) and Brahmaputra (NW2).

HCSL will also aid in the indigenous construction of green vessels including Hybrid and Pure electric operated vessels, non-conventional fuels and fuel cells technology operated vessels, coastal and inland river vessels, river cruise vessels, river container vessels, LNG and Methanol fuel vessels and barges.

HCSL can provide comprehensive support to clients by not only constructing technologically advanced vessels, but also by providing life cycle support for maintenance and upkeep of the vessels, the ministry said.