Date:05/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/05/stories/2006060500330600.htm

Back New vessels for IWAI

Last week, the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) took delivery of two cargo vessels, Viswesvaraya and RN Tagore, each of 300-tonne capacity. One of them is an oil tanker and the other a container ship. The vessels are to be deployed on two National Waterways, NW1 (Haldia-Patna-Allahabad) and NW2 (Haldia- Guwahati, via Bangladesh).

Hooghly Dock, the public sector ship-building firm near Kolkata, built the vessels at an estimated cost of Rs 3 crore each. With this acquisition, the IWAI's fleet strength rises to four, the two other general cargo vessels it owns being Rajagopal (650 tonne) and Lal Bahadur Shastri (300 tonne).

Inquiries reveal that Hooghly Dock is building three other vessels for IWAI, a surface dredger and two multipurpose vessels, each of 300-tonne capacity. The two vessels that were delivered last week took nearly two years to construct. The three vessels under construction, it is hoped, will be delivered without much delay.

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