Kolkata, Oct 3 (IANS): Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, on Thursday, signed a contract with Carsten Rehder Schiffsmakler and Reederei GmbH & Co. KG Germany to construct and deliver one more specialised multi-purpose cargo vessel of 7,500 DWT.

The German company had signed an agreement with GRSE in June this year for four such ships and had left the option open to order four more.

On September 18, the company exercised its option right to order four more vessels from GRSE. The contract for the fifth vessel was signed on Thursday accordingly. The total value of the order for eight ships is nearly US$ 108 million or over Rs 904 crore.

GRSE is a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) that holds the record of being the only shipyard in the country to have built and delivered 109 warships to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. It has now made a foray into the world of commercial vessel export. This is in keeping with the 'Make in India, Make for the world policy of the Union government.

These vessels will be 120 metres long and 17 metres wide with a maximum draft of 6.75 metres. Each of them can carry 7,500 metric tonnes of cargo. The vessels will have a single cargo hold each to accommodate bulk, general and project cargoes. Containers will be carried on hatch covers. The ships have been specifically designed to carry multiple large windmill blades on deck.

India is a major exporter of windmill blades with nearly 70 per cent of the production meeting overseas demands. Germany is a major user of wind power but faces the problem of transporting large windmill blades by road.

While GRSE's mainstay has been the construction of warships for India's maritime defence forces, the shipyard has also been a pioneer in the export of ships. In 2014, the CGS Barracuda, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, built by GRSE, was exported to Mauritius. This was the first warship to be exported by India.

In 2021, the GRSE-built Fast Patrol Vessel PS Zoroaster was exported to the Seychelles. The ship returned to GRSE earlier this year for a refit that was completed in record time. The shipyard is also currently working on six patrol boats, a TSH dredger and an ocean-going tug for the Government of Bangladesh.

In 2023, GRSE delivered the MV Ma Lisha, a passenger-cum-cargo ocean-going ferry to the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. It is the largest and most advanced ferry in that country now.

GRSE has also tied up with private shipbuilding facilities in Goa and Gujarat to build and export medium and small-size cargo vessels that are in high demand in the Scandinavian nations.