Kolkata, June 26 (IANS) The state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) will add 30 more vessels to its fleet by March 2015, a top official said here Friday.
The company also plans to diversify and enter into areas like ship-building to become a full-fledged maritime player from only a shipping company at present.
‘We have 30-odd vessels on order for $2 billion (Rs.9,150 crore). The vessels will be delivered by 2014-15. We will order more for over $2 billion,’ SCI chairman and managing director S. Hajara said while addressing the 72nd annual general meeting of the Calcuta Freight Brokers Association.
SCI at present owns 76 ships of 5.1 million deadweight tonnage (DWT) – the total weight of the ship including the cargo, crew and fuel – and mans 60 vessels of 0.2 million tonnes DWT. It plans to take its capacity to 12 million DWT by March 2015 by acquiring 30 vessels.
On the company’s diversification plans, Hajara said SCI plans to become a global maritime player instead of a mere shipping company and will enter the ship-building segment.
