Dolphin Offshore to rope in partner for Gujarat shipyard plan

The Rs 363-crore Dolphin Offshore plans to rope in a partner for its proposed Rs 400-crore greenfield shipyard to be commissioned in Jafrabad, Gujarat. “We have short-listed a few non-shipping companies, which would like to invest in this project, ” Mr Satpal Singh, Joint Managing Director, Dolphin Offshore, told Business Line. The company will focus on building offshore vessels such as multi-purpose support vessels (MSVs), anchor handling tugs and supply vessels.
Dolphin Offshore plans to set up this shipyard over 100 hectares. Of this, the Government is expected to lease out 56 hectares while the balance will be acquired privately.
“At present, we have completed the necessary surveys and applying for all the clearances. We are yet to get possession of land from the Gujarat Maritime board,” he said.
Project completion
The project will be completed in the next six years across three phases. The first phase will involve an investment of about Rs 70 crore, which will be used to set up a fabrication yard for Dolphin’s EPC contracts, shipbuilding yard with slipway, machinery shops and an office block.
The second phase will include construction of the necessary jetties and outfitting berths and additional infrastructure. This phase is also expected to cost Rs 70 crore.
In the third phase, the firm will develop a dry dock, which would be primarily used to service giant jack-up rigs. Currently, there is no shipyard in the country that can dry dock a jack-up rig, which is used for offshore oil exploration.
“It has to be taken to West Asia or you have to bring a semi submersible barge that can lift a rig out of the water and you carry out a dry docking repairs of rig in that manner. That costs close to $1.5 million,” he added.
With more than 30 such rigs in operation in the sector, Dolphin Offshore sees tremendous potential in this space.
In the past, the company had ventured into shipbuilding and repairs with subcontracts with various shipyards.
“We have an annual rig contract with ONGC for structure repairs involving their jack-up rigs. We also have a licence to operate the Mumbai Port Trust dry dock,” Mr Singh said.