Shoft Shipyard build for Gujarat

Shoft has a 23 year record of delivering good design, first rate engineering, quality workmanship on schedule, and has a dynamic, ‘can do’ attitude based on vast shipbuilding experience having constructed tugs, supply vessels, bulk carriers, cement carriers, tankers, product carriers, dredgers, hopper barges, trawlers, cargo vessels, pontoons, naval tatrol vessels and more. It is a range no other mid-sized shipbuilder in India can match.

The tug, with accommodation for a crew of 16 and 10 passengers, was designed by Win Marine Consultancy Services to quite different parameters when compared with those built to western requirements. Built as Shoft Shipyards Yard No 248, the 33m long tug, with a beam of 10.5m, was delivered in August of this year, less than one year from the keel being laid.

The 437 GRT tug is classed with the Indian Register of Shipping as +SUL TUG +IY.

GMB 3 is powered by two Cummins QSK60-M diesels each delivering 2,000 bhp at 1,800 rpm. The ASD propulsion system incorporates a pair of fully azimuthing Schottel SRP 1012FP propulsion units to give the big tug a bollard pull of 41 tonnes at 85% MCR.The 16 cylinder, 60 litre engines were supplied by Cummins India.

Electrical power aboard GMB 3 is supplied by two 150kW auxiliary generators and one of 60kW, all manufactured by Kirloskar.

Formed in 1982, the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) has been charged with managing and coordinating the efforts of the 41 minor ports along the state’s 1,600km coastline on India’s west coast, involving both private and public funding. The GMB’s mandate includes planning the integrated development of new ports, along with the required road and rail links. The Board also owns a number of vessels in support of port operations.

Gujarat is a pioneering, futuristic and entrepreneurial state of the country. In particular, Gujarat’s maritime sector is considered to be one of the most proactive and well developed sectors of India. During the year 2012-13, non-major ports in Gujarat handled about 287.81 Mt of cargo compared to 259 Mt handled during the previous year, making an 11.11% increase in the traffic handled. Capacity of 43 Mt was added during the year 2012-13, augmenting the capacity of Gujarat ports to 366 Mt.