After recently taking delivery of two Panamax bulk carrier vessels, India's national shipping company, The Shipping Corporation of India Limited (SCI), has accepted the delivery of the Kamsarmax bulk carrier MV 'Vishva Jyoti' in December, 2012.
The vessel is part of a four-ship order that the company placed in September, 2010, with Jiangsu Eastern Heavy Industries of China. This is the first vessel inducted; the other three vessels will be delivered during 2013 in a phased manner.
"Acquisition of this vessel is in line with SCI's strategy of maintaining a modern and young fleet of vessels," SCI said in a statement.
Due to the vessel's higher cargo carrying capacity, SCI will be utilising the vessel type for worldwide operations.
With a gross tonnage of 44,864 tonnes and a deadweight of 81,894 tonnes, the MV 'Vishva Jyoti is dually classed with BV and IRS and has been built to comply with the "latest and most stringent" international regulations.
During the second half of 2012, SCI inducted four Panamax bulk carriers from STX Shipyard in China and has been predominantly operating smaller-sized Handymax and Handysize bulk carriers in the past. With delivery of the larger Panamax/Kamsarmax bulk carriers, SCI is set to increase the company's exposure in India's import and export of dry bulk cargoes.
With 17 vessels on order at present, SCI's currently operates a fleet strength of 82 vessels of 5.94 million DWT.
India is one of the current growth drivers for the world economy, recording impressive GDP growth compared to the developed economies. Industrial and infrastructural development plays a major role to sustain this growth.
Jagdish Kumar