Royal HaskoningDHV wins major design project for two Mumbai shipyards

• First project of its kind to integrate three locations into a mega-yard
• Best-in-class shipyard to put India at the global forefront of modern shipbuilding

Royal HaskoningDHV, the international engineering company, has won contracts worth a total of around €9 million from Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL), India’s leading shipbuilder. The scope is to provide comprehensive design and project management services for the construction of two new shipbuilding and repair yards in Mumbai, India. This project will integrate MDL’s existing shipyard with the two new facilities to create a mega-yard that will include the largest shipbuilding dry dock in India, capable of accommodating India’s next generation of aircraft carriers.

Royal HaskoningDHV will support MDL’s expansion plans by providing shipyard planning, geotechnical and environmental surveys and detailed engineering for the two new shipyards, as well as procurement consultancy services and project supervision. Working with MDL, the projects will expand the shipyard using environmentally sustainable designs and support job creation in the local community.

Giant dry dock

The larger of the two shipyards is the Nhava Yard, a 40-acre greenfield site across the channel from MDL’s existing shipyard on the island city. This yard will comprise up to 30 buildings, including dry berths, fabrication facilities, workshops, stores, utilities, plant and machinery. It will include a giant dry dock expected to measure nearly 600m long and 60m wide capable of accommodating large vessels. This makes it suitable for aircraft carriers and the largest Suezmax tankers and bulk carriers. The Nhava Yard will be used for defence and commercial shipbuilding and repairs and is expected to employ around 1,500 additional people.

The second yard, known as the South Yard Annexe, is smaller in size and adjacent to MDL’s existing facility. It will again be a shipbuilding and ship repair yard with a wet-basin-cum-drydock, hard stands, and waterfront jetty with roll-on/roll-off facilities for loading and unloading vessels using a floating dock, barges, or submersibles. This facility, which houses the former British-built repair facility, with the Clarke’s Basin, has been leased from the Mumbai Port Authority by MDL for 30 years. Around 500 additional people will be employed there. In addition, both new facilities will result in supporting ancillary industries and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises – from innovative technology start-ups to steelmaking – that will support the yards.

“Driving this expansion is our growing order book and need for new shipbuilding and repair facilities,” said the Director of Shipbuilding at MDL. “These best-in-class yards will have the flexibility to function independently and be able to work together as a single integrated yard, meaning three yards can each work on different modules of the same vessel at the same time. This modular construction approach can reduce lead times and cost, further strengthening the call to ‘Make in India.’”

Royal HaskoningDHV employs 320 people in locations across India, focusing on maritime, climate resilience and water technology solutions, with around 70 people in its office in Mumbai.

“We already enjoy a strong working relationship with MDL. From 2006 to 2013 we helped to upgrade its existing yard in Mumbai. This included providing the design and engineering consultancy services for the wet basin, Goliath crane, and state-of-the-art workshops delivered on budget and on time,” said Aslam Bijapur, Director India and Bangladesh at Royal HaskoningDHV. “Building any shipyard comes with environmental risks, so an important aspect of this project is to perform rigorous environmental risk and impact assessments and to ensure that we design facilities with a low carbon footprint while being climate resilient.”

The new buildings will make use of solar power, natural light and adhere to the standards of the Indian Green Buildings Council. The design phases will last for 18 months, with the construction of the Nhava Yard taking a further 48 months, and 36 months for the South Yard Annexe.