The Danish shipowner group A.P. Møller-Mærsk has signed a memorandum of understanding with the shipyard of Indian shipbuilding and repair Cochin Shipyard Ltd. (CSL) with the aim of jointly exploring opportunities for carry out repair, maintenance and shipbuilding in India. The European group specified that the partnership is in line with the objectives in the Government of India and the recent national budget 2025-26 which foresees, among the objectives, to make India one of the Top five global maritime hubs.

The Indian Union budget, presented at the beginning of this month, in fact, plans to give a strong boost to the sector maritime industry, in particular to the shipbuilding industry national. In particular, the budget provides for the creation of the Maritime Development Fund (MDF) to support the sector by providing assisting financially. The fund will have an endowment of 250 billion rupees ($2.9 billion), of which 49% will be made up of state funds and the remaining share provides for the financial contribution from the main port authorities and other government bodies as well as financial institutions, and private sector. After all, it will also be financed through the Funding for the acquisition of ships under the programme which aims to increase the share of flag-waving ships used in world traffic up to 20% by 2047.

The budget also provides for the development of new clusters of shipbuilding capable of producing between 1.0 and 1.2 million gross tonnage per year, clusters whose creation is evidently among the objectives of the new partnership between Maersk and Cochin Shipyard. Through the partnership model public-private sector, the programme aims to attract investment promote modernisation and advance the "green" technologies. Among the measures envisaged for incentivize the creation of shipbuilding clusters there are direct public investment, e.g. for the construction of maritime works, the suspension for ten years of the payment of the concession fees and a fund of 61 billion rupees for support the modernization and automation of shipyards improving their efficiency and production. In addition, the program also includes incentives to increase activities of ship dismantling, facilities that are also linked to the programme to stimulate purchases of new ships produced in India.

The Head of Fleet Management & Technology at A.P. Møller-Mærsk, Lenoardo Sonzio, announced that, since the operational point of view, the collaboration with Cochin Shipyard will be activated during this year with the first repair of a Maersk ship at the Indian plant.

We recall that recently the shipowning group Mediterranean Shipping Company has expressed interest in the Development of the Indian shipbuilding industry ( of 20 January 2025).