With India investing massively towards its goal of becoming a maritime powerhouse, the world’s top three container shipping companies – Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), Maersk and CMA CGM – have set their sights on the country.
On February 17, Maersk announced that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Cochin Shipyard in India to explore partnership opportunities for ship repair and newbuilding in India. The MoU is in line with the Indian government’s recently announced policy to support the shipping industry.
India has proposed a “2047 Shipbuilding Powerhouse” plan, aiming to rank among the world’s top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and become one of the top five global shipbuilding powers by 2047. Earlier this month, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced a $2.9 billion maritime development fund initiative designed to provide long-term financing for India’s shipbuilding and repair businesses. According to the plan, the government will contribute 49% of the funding, with the remaining portion provided by ports and private enterprises.
According to official news from Maersk, Cochin Shipyard is expected to complete the repair of the first Maersk vessel by 2025. Maersk also stated that there is potential for building new ships at Cochin Shipyard in the future.
After Maersk, CMA CGM and MSC are also ready to partner with Indian shipyards.
France’s CMA CGM is set to follow Maersk’s lead with a delegation scheduled to visit India soon, according to local media reports. Earlier, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited CMA CGM’s headquarters in Marseille, where he met with the company’s CEO, Rodolphe Saadé, to discuss CMA CGM’s plans for India, including future collaborations in the shipbuilding and ship repair business.
Meanwhile, MSC CEO Soren Toft also visited India last week to meet with India’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, to discuss a number of potential investments.Piyush Goyal said on social media that the focus of the talks included investments in inland container terminals, shipbuilding, repair and container manufacturing, as well as ship cooperation and policy reforms to boost India’s global maritime competitiveness.