Royal HaskoningDHV is designing two new shipbuilding and repair yards for Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) in Mumbai, India. The contracts, valued at approximately EUR 9 million, involve shipyard planning, engineering, procurement consultancy, and project supervision. The project integrates MDL’s existing shipyard with the new facilities, forming a larger shipbuilding complex that includes a dry dock capable of accommodating aircraft carriers.
The larger of the two facilities, Nhava Yard, spans 40 acres and includes up to 30 buildings, such as fabrication units, workshops, and a dry dock measuring nearly 600 meters in length and 60 meters in width. It is expected to support both defence and commercial shipbuilding, employing around 1,500 additional personnel. The second facility, South Yard Annexe, is adjacent to MDL’s existing site and features a wet-basin-cum-drydock, hard stands, and a waterfront jetty. MDL has leased this facility from the Mumbai Port Authority for 30 years, and it is projected to create around 500 additional jobs.
“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 India, with around 70 based 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 project includes sustainability features such as solar power and adherence to Indian Green Buildings Council standards. The design phase is expected to take 18 months, with Nhava Yard’s construction lasting 48 months and South Yard Annexe’s construction taking 36 months.