Mumbai: The state-run Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, which builds ships for the Indian Navy and Coast Guard, has been permitted to construct a floating dry dock with launching facility at Nhava off the Mumbai coast. The proposal was cleared by the Maharashtra Coastal Zone Management Authority (MCZMA) at its meeting held in July.
Established in 1960, Mazgaon Dock provides direct and permanent employment to over 6,000 skilled workers and supports thousands more indirectly through its supply chain. It is currently constructing warships of the P17, P15A and P15B classes, along with six Scorpion-class submarines. The company has construction orders for approximately 31 defense vessels for the Navy and Coast Guard and plans to foray into construction of next-generation destroyer ships, landing helicopter deck ships and aircraft carriers.
The proposed dry dock will comprise six blocks which are being constructed at Bharuch in Gujarat. They will later be transported to the company’s yard in Nhava and assembled into a floating, 180-metre long dry dock, occupying an area of 13, 585 square metres, offsetting the lack of land-based infrastructure for ship building activities.
The minutes of MCZMA’s July meeting, wherein the proposal was cleared, said Mazgaon Dock will construct a temporary facility for assembling the dry dock modules utilising a patch of land at the northern edge of its Nhava yard. The land presently has no mangroves, vegetation or any permanent/ temporary structure and the facility will be dismantled when the floating dry dock is launched in March 2026, the minutes said.
The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project, presented at the MCZMA meeting, said that while such launching facilities must be well-protected from wave action, the project site at Nhava has more or less ideal conditions as the Elephanta island comprises a headland. Tidal circulation in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA) navigation channel, via which ships will travel between the floating dock and the sea, is also relatively strong as the flood and ebb flows have to pass through the narrow channel between the Elephanta island and the Nhava-Sheva landmass, the EIA report said.
The floating dry dock will have negligible impact on the tidal regime and coastline and the mangroves around Nhava island are located far away from it, the report further mentioned.
HT contacted a Mazgaon Dock spokesperson for comments on the MCZMA clearance but did not get any response.
Mhaske meets def min
Thane Lok Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Naresh Mhaske on Saturday met the union defence minister Rajnath Singh and asked him to allocate the construction of next generation destroyer (NGD) warships on nomination basis to Mazagon Dock.
Mhaske, president of the Mazagon Dock Workers’ Unity Union, said in a press note that the defence minister responded positively and assured early allocation of new work to the company.
As per provisions under the defence acquisition procedure, shipyards in India are nominated for warship construction, especially for strategic projects like next generation destroyers.