en.Wedoany.com Reported - Indian shipyard Swan Defence and Heavy Industries (SDHI) has secured a significant order to build four ammonia dual-fuel bulk carriers, marking the first order for ammonia dual-fuel vessels received by an Indian shipyard.

On April 7, SDHI announced via its official website that it has signed a construction contract with Energy ONE for four 92,500 DWT ammonia dual-fuel bulk carriers. The first ship is expected to be delivered in October 2029, with subsequent vessels delivered at four-month intervals. The order value ranges from 15.01 billion to 30 billion Indian Rupees (approximately $160 million to $320 million), translating to a unit cost of $40 million to $80 million per vessel.

This type of ammonia dual-fuel bulk carrier will be designed by the South Korean company KMS-EMEC and built by SDHI's Pipavav shipyard. The vessels have an overall length of 229.5 meters and a width of 37 meters. They will be equipped with an ammonia fuel propulsion system and will be classed by DNV (Det Norske Veritas). Notably, these newbuilds are the first ammonia dual-fuel vessels to be built by a domestic Indian shipyard and are among the largest commercial ships ever constructed by an Indian shipyard to date, representing a significant step forward for the Indian shipbuilding industry in terms of technology and scale.

Energy ONE is the General Partner of the investment fund New Energy One (NEO), registered in Jersey (Channel Islands, British Isles). NEO is dedicated to investing in green newbuild assets and plans to invest $2 billion in zero-emission vessels to help industrial end-users and commodity producers reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Information shows that SDHI, formerly known as Reliance Naval and Engineering Limited (RNEL) which operated the Pipavav shipyard, is a leading Indian shipbuilding and heavy equipment manufacturing company. It possesses India's largest graving dock (662m x 65m), one floating dock (340m x 60m), a facility area of 2 million square meters, and a waterfront of 1.2 kilometers, enabling the construction of VLCCs (Very Large Crude Carriers) and offshore equipment.

SDHI has a dedicated offshore engineering dock capable of handling the fabrication, installation, and load-out of heavy engineering modules for large platforms and offshore structures. It has completed a $250 million renovation and upgrade project, equipping it with the capability to build large commercial vessels. Currently, the shipyard's capacity accounts for nearly 30% of India's total shipbuilding capacity.

Currently, SDHI is actively pursuing new ship orders. In addition to the newly announced four 92,500 DWT ammonia dual-fuel bulk carriers, an order for 6+6 IMO Type II 18,000 DWT chemical tankers from Norwegian shipowner Rederiet Stenersen was officially confirmed earlier this year, with a total value of $227 million. This chemical tanker order is the first major shipbuilding contract secured by SDHI after taking over the Pipavav shipyard. The first ship is planned for delivery before the fourth quarter of 2028, with subsequent vessels delivered at fixed intervals.

Beyond newbuilding projects, SDHI has sold five "unfinished" Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs) to offshore vessel owner San Maritime India. The owner acquired the vessels on an "as is, where is" basis and has signed a completion contract with SDHI. It is understood that the five PSVs SDHI is about to complete were part of a batch order for offshore vessels placed during the RNEL era. The original owner was India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), with a total of 12 vessels of approximately 2,500 DWT each, under a contract worth about $112 million. These PSVs were originally scheduled for delivery by the end of 2011. The first seven were completed and delivered before RNEL encountered financial difficulties. The construction of the subsequent five was delayed due to the shipyard's operational disruptions and completely halted in 2017, after which the shipyard declared bankruptcy.

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