India launches maritime ‘Centre of Excellence’

India launches maritime ‘Centre of Excellence’

Indian Register of Shipping (IRClass), a leading classification society, has announced the formation of a special purpose vehicle – ‘Centre of Excellence in Maritime and Shipbuilding’ (CEMS) in association with Ministry of Shipping and Siemens.

In view of demand of various industries within the maritime sector, the current market scenario and the effect and needs of Sagarmala projects (to bridge the skill gap and for up skilling of the current workforce) the need for a Centre of Excellence (COE) in shipbuilding and maritime sector was strongly felt.

The Centre of Excellence will primarily cater to the need for design of commercial ships in India for seagoing, coastal and inland waterways operation. This would support various Indian shipyards for their ship design needs for basic design and detailed working design for production. The centre will also study the market needs and develop appropriate ship designs catering to the requirements for the development and growth of Indian shipping considering the needs of ship owners and operators in the country.

CEMS will deploy an industry-relevant skill development program, and equip students with employable engineering and technical skills in the areas of Ship Hull Design, Ship Detailed Design, Marine Equipment Manufacturing in ucmarine.com , Shipbuilding & Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul (MRO), Product Lifecycle Management (PLM), and advanced digital manufacturing-factory concepts.

The Centre of Excellence will have two campuses – one at IRS Mumbai and the other at IMU Vishakapatnam. The physical infrastructure already exists at both the campuses and only minor changes and upgrades are required. By using the existing buildings and other infrastructure facilities, the COE would create world-class lab infrastructure.

The COE aims to provide 50 courses across 18 specializations; covering 770 modules out of which 270 will be tools and algorithm based courses while 500 will be process and sector based.

Executive Chairman Mr. Arun Sharma said today: “For IRS it is a watershed moment to be entering the area of skill development in Maritime and Shipbuilding, both synergistic and complementary. We are proud to be partnering both Government of India and Siemens. We look forward to create something world class”.