Alcock gets cracking with Rs 63-cr vessel for A&N

Vinod Mathew

GANDHINAGAR, Dec 10

FOR the Andaman & Nicobar islands, considering its geographical location in the Bay of Bengal, one would think the regular port of call whenever it requires a new sea-faring vessel would be either Kolkata, Visakhapatnam or Chennai. That is if the Union Territory was hampered by tight budgetary allocations that put a lid on it approaching one of the ship building yards in Thailand, Malaysia or Singapore.

Surprisingly, the Union Territory has chosen a ship building yard on the western coast to nurture a special relationship over the past couple of years and it happens to be none of the known destinations such as Kochi, Goa or Mumbai. Apparently, the most preferred destination of the A&N Government is a little known company along the Saurashtra coast in Bhavnagar, Alcock Ashdown Gujarat Ltd (AAG).

Not coincidentally, it appears that the State-owned shipbuilding company is existing largely on the strength of the Andaman & Nicobar orders. In 2000-01, the A&N administration came good with orders worth Rs 37.5 crore for AAG. This came in the form of five vessels including passenger vessels and cargo tugs each costing Rs 7.5 crore.

For the AAG, it seems as if the going is set to get better as its present order position from only three vessels for the Andaman Government is worth Rs 70 crore. Of this, a single ferry boat with a capacity to carry 400 passengers alone would net Rs 63 crore for AAG. The construction period for this unique ferry boat is put at 30 months.

The ongoing special association between the Bhavnagar-based AAG and the island administration was underlined by the Union Territory Governor, Mr N.N. Jha, who said Andaman & Nicobar had received high quality ships vessels in the past from Alcock Ashdown. He was talking at a function to denote the keel-laying ceremony of the ferry boat which also marked the flagging off of the boat construction by the Gujarat Chief Minister, Mr Narendra Modi.

"Due to the geographical situation of the Andaman and Nicobar islands, the Union Territory would continue to require different sized vessels. Gujarat and especially Alcock Ashdown would continue to receive such work orders in the future as well,'' Mr Jha said. The AAG has already set up a new yard for the construction of the ferry boat at the Chanch port near Mahuva in Bhavnagar.

Today, Alcock Ashdown, with a 300-strong work force is fast emerging as one of the credible destinations for boat building on the Saurashtra coast. And it is among the few such companies run by the State Government that generates its own cash flows without outside help. Quite a transformation for a company that went in for liquidation under the Turner Morrison banner before moving out of the private sector banner in 1974.