New Delhi. 14 September 2016. On Saturday, 17 September 2016, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) will be launching the second ship of the Project 15B, i.e. Visakhapatnam Class ships. The second ship is being named as Mormugao and will be launched ahead of schedule. Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff will be the chief guest for the function. During Launching Ceremony the hull of the ship which is constructed on dry area is floated on water for the first time. It is a milestone event for any vessel.
The last six years can be called the Golden years of Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Since 2010, the Yard has delivered one major warship platform to Indian Navy almost every year. Commencing with the high end stealth frigate INS Shivalik, delivered in 2010, the Yard dedicated to the Nation INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri in the same class. This was followed by the highly acclaimed stealth destroyer INS Kolkata sporting a unique silhouette afforded by MF STAR antenna and INS Kochi in subsequent years. In this period, two highly sophisticated MSVs were also constructed and delivered to foreign clients as high value export orders.
Today, with P15A class guided missile destroyers (Kolkata class) achieving very high level of technology and capability, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited is also constructing four follow-on destroyers, christened as P-15B. The first ship in this class Visakhapatnam was launched in April 2015. On Saturday, 17 September 2016, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) will be launching the second ship, Mormugao, in this class, ahead of schedule.
Detailed design of the futuristic stealth frigates, P17A is currently in progress with. Work on this will commence in early 2017. This will be the first time MDL will be using the integrated construction methodology by leveraging the new infrastructure in the yard. This will be a paradigm shift in the way ships will be built in India in the years to come.
MDL is also constructing six Scorpene class submarines for the Indian Navy under a transfer of technology from M/s DCNS of France. The first boat in this class, Kalvari, will be commissioned into the Fleet very shortly. The launching of the second boat is slated later this year. The yard is now ready with the augmented facility created recently for a second line of submarines
For the first time in its history, Mazagon Dock in 2015-16 achieved a VOP above Rs. 4000 crores with an impressive operating profit of Rs.218 crores.
