High potential of military-civilian shipbuilding synergy – Firstpost

Adapting civilian platforms for military use can speed up defence production while increasing standardisation, the CEO of Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen, Geir Haoy, said, as pressure to boost military spending in Europe grows under President Donald Trump. “The processes need to be simplified so that we get the speed up,” he said. The question is, “How can we utilise commercial products and systems, standardise vessels, and put them into military systems and militarise them?”

“You make them as civilian as possible and as military as necessary. That means that you can actually speed up production capacities, get the cost down—and you get a very sophisticated vessel,” Haoy said. There is thus a need to understand the shipbuilding process and complexities in this approach.

Shipbuilding Process

Building warships is a complex process that involves engineering, procurement, fabrication, and construction. The warship is designed for defence, offence, and cargo transport. Materials are procured, and components are fabricated in prefabrication sheds. The components are assembled on a building berth to form the hull. The ship is dry-docked. The ship is launched from the slipway. The ship undergoes sea trials. Though shipbuilding is an ancient craft, modern shipbuilding companies use advanced technologies to build sophisticated naval ships and submarines. Shipbuilding and ship repairs are referred to as naval engineering.

Shipbuilding Post WWII

Japan used shipbuilding in the 1950s and 1960s to rebuild its industrial structure. South Korea started to make shipbuilding a strategic industry in the 1970s, and China is now in the process of repeating these models with large state-supported investments in this industry. Many Western shipbuilders lost out due to high labour costs and lack of subsidies. The UK was a typical example.

In the US, the Jones Act, which places restrictions on the ships that can be used for moving domestic cargoes, has meant that merchant shipbuilding has continued, albeit at a reduced rate, but such protection has failed to penalise shipbuilding inefficiencies. The consequence of this is that contract prices are far higher than those of any other country building oceangoing ships.

China State Shipbuilding Corporation, China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Samsung Heavy Industries, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, and Imabari Shipbuilding supply most of the global market for large container, bulk carrier, and tanker and roll-on roll-off ships (Ro-Ro ships) that are vessels to transport wheeled vehicles like cars, trucks, and trailers.

As of 2023, China’s shipbuilding output, newly received orders, and orders on hand accounted for 50 per cent, 67 per cent, and 55 per cent of the global market share, respectively, with double-digit growth of all three indexes compared to the previous year. As of 2024, China builds nearly 75 per cent of new vessels on order and has the capacity to build more ships in one month than the US builds in a year.

Meanwhile, Italy, France, Finland, Germany, UK and other European countries are the major makers of cruise ships, icebreakers, and crane vessels and so on. Some key shipbuilders in Europe are Fincantieri, Damen Group, Navantia, Naval Group, and BAE Systems.

The US is currently ranked the tenth largest shipbuilder worldwide. The top companies that build large naval vessels, such as aircraft carriers and cruisers, include Huntington Ingalls, Bollinger, and General Dynamics.

In the small to medium military vessels category, key shipbuilders include Vigor Industrial, and VT Halter Marine. As the US Navy is shifting to a new fleet architecture that is more widely distributed, unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) development is rapidly propelled to higher priority. L3Harris Technologies partnered with Swiftships to build the MUSVs.

Complexities of Combining Military and Commercial Shipbuilding

Many countries are looking at exploiting the commonality between civilian and military ships to make the shipbuilding industry more competitive in the commercial and foreign military marketplaces. This can be done by expanding shipbuilders’ customer base after reviewing global shipbuilding trends and the differences between military and commercial shipbuilding. Countries are evaluating the potential for constructing both commercial and military ships in the same yard.

Most countries have sustained a military shipbuilding industrial base of substantial size for significant periods. Domestic military demands in many emerging big powers like India, Japan, France, and the UK are significant. There is a great scope for military ship exports. If shipbuilders have to become big, there is a good scope for them to simultaneously enter into commercial shipbuilding.

The construction of all but the most complex commercial ships, however, differs dramatically from that of warships along several dimensions. The average commercial ship is about three times as big as the average military ship and thus cannot be built in facilities sized for military ships.

At the same time, the average commercial ship is much simpler, with no weapon system. There are also acquisition process differences. Commercial ship owners are accustomed to much simpler contracting, designing, construction, and testing processes than those that pertain in the military world.

Commercial ships are, for the most part, large steel boxes with relatively small and simple propulsion and navigation systems. Designing military ships takes longer because of their high equipment density, the large number of sophisticated systems involved, and a desire to at least match the current state of the art.

The construction of commercial ships is mostly a volume business that depends on simple steel forming and welding processes repeated over and over. The construction of warships involves the use of exotic materials, the installation of large amounts of high-value, sensitive equipment, and the satisfaction of more exacting standards.

The testing process for military ships is more involved because it has to reflect the high technology and technology density of the ships and take account of multiple possibilities for mutual interference of advanced electronic systems.

Military shipbuilding demands much more engineering support, as well as the need to interact extensively with the government oversight teams. Military shipbuilding also requires more highly skilled and specialised workers. Such high overhead and high skill base cannot be sustained by any yard that expects to build typical commercial ships at competitive prices.

The differences between military and commercial shipbuilding are not as great, however, for auxiliary vessels (oilers, sealift ships, etc.) and some amphibious warfare ships. Auxiliary vessels are similar to commercial ships and are often built to similar standards, and testing can be less rigorous where weapon and sensor systems are few.

Japan and South Korea dominate the market for ships of low and moderate complexity, mostly cargo ships and tankers of varying types. Some European countries, like Germany and France, are into military shipbuilding. The US and China have huge stand-alone capabilities in both.

Advantage of Integrating

The historical trend has been more towards specialisation than integration of commercial and military production. Integration can, of course, bring the benefits of military technological advances to commercial construction, and the benefits of efficient commercial processes can feed back to the military side. Certain Japanese shipyards have been successful at this. At a much lower scale, India has been doing the same to some extent.

Indian Shipbuilding Industry

India’s shipbuilding industry is growing, with major shipyards in Visakhapatnam, Kochi, Kolkata, Goa, and Mumbai. The industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) at Kochi is the largest shipbuilding and maintenance facility in India.It has built big vessels up to 120,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) capacity and has delivered two of India’s largest double-hull Aframax tankers, each of 95,000 DWT. CSL built India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier. INS Vikrant is the largest warship built by CSL. It has performed major overhauls for the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

CSL has secured shipbuilding orders from internationally renowned companies from Europe and the Middle East. The shipyard is building six 30,000 DWT bulk carriers for Clipper Group of the Bahamas, and the first three vessels have been launched. Eight platform supply vessels for the Norwegian Seatankers Management Company are also under construction. On December 27, 2024, Adani Ports and SEZ, through its subsidiary, Ocean Sparkle Limited, ordered eight tugboats from CSL.

The shipyard offers repair services and upgrades and repairs for all types of ships of the armed forces, the shipping industry, and rigs of ONGC. It performed major overhauls for the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya in 2016 and 2018.

On 5 April 2024, CSL became the third Indian shipyard after Kattupalli Shipyard of Larsen & Toubro and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders to sign a Master Ship Repair Agreement (MSRA) with the United States Navy for repair of its Military Sealift Command Fleet Support Ships. Under the agreement, the US Naval ships of the Central Command that are on a voyage are to be repaired in India.

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) is a defence public sector undertaking (DPSU) shipyard located in Visakhapatnam, on the east coast of India. HSL is a major shipyard with the capacity to manufacture vessels and repair ships up to 80,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and also constructs offshore and onshore structures. It also conducts major overhauls of Indian Navy submarines and is being equipped to construct nuclear-powered submarines. The shipyard is the second biggest after Cochin Shipyard.

The Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) is located in Mumbai. It manufactures warships and submarines for the Indian Navy and offshore platforms and associated support vessels for offshore oil drilling. It also builds tankers, cargo bulk carriers, passenger ships, and ferries.

Goa Shipyard, unlike Cochin Shipyard and Hindustan Shipyard, cannot manufacture big vessels with a capacity above 15,000 DWT. GSL built the three-mast barque INS Tarangini for use as a training ship for the Indian Navy. They have built landing crafts and offshore patrol vessels. Their future plans are to build Mine Counter-Measure Vessels, Talwar class frigates, and fast patrol boats for the Indian Army. They will build pollution control vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.

Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited at Howrah has two units located at Salkia and Nazirganj on the bank of the River Hooghly and manufactures various types of vessels, dredgers, floating dry docks, oil pollution control vessels, and passenger vessels.

Way Ahead for India

India’s location with water bodies on three sides makes it a perfect destination for a robust shipbuilding industry. However, the industry is currently still in a nascent stage with potential for exponential growth in the coming years.

The Indian shipbuilding industry already has a happy mix of construction, maintenance, and repair of ships/vessels used for trade, defence, and transportation. Since it caters to different sectors, the ships or vessels range from small boats to even warships.

Mumbai is currently one of the biggest shipbuilding hubs with MDL, and ABG Shipyard Limited and its subsidiaries, Bharati Defence and Infrastructure Limited, also operate from Mumbai. Kochi has the CSL and Udupi Cochin Shipyard. Bristol Boats, Praga Marine Private Limited, and Sea Blue Shipyard Limited are three private shipbuilding entities located in Kochi.

Goa has state-run GSL. Dempo Shipbuilding & Engineering Pvt. Ltd. is a private shipbuilding company. Also, there are Mandovi Drydocks, Marine Operating Company Pvt. Ltd., and Timblo Drydocks Pvt. Ltd.

Kolkata has the state-owned Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers and its subsidiary, which is Rajabagan Dockyard. Also, there is Titagarh Marine Limited. Chennai has Kattupalli Shipyard and Vadyar Boats. Chowgule Shipyard Drydock is a private entity in Ratnagiri. Reliance Infrastructure has one public sector shipbuilding entity in Pipavav—Reliance Naval and Engineering Ltd.

Larsen & Turbo (L&T) has a 15 per cent market share and mainly builds defence vessels with highly advanced technology built for better facilities, communication, and other aspects. It also builds warships and offshore vessels. The Adani Group is coming up with a huge initiative for the shipbuilding industry launched in 2024. The company announced its plan to invest close to ₹ 45,000 crore to build shipbuilding facilities at Mundra Port, Gujarat.

India’s shipbuilding industry was valued at $1.12 billion in 2024 and is currently ranked 20th in the global shipbuilding industry with a 0.06 percent market share. The global market is dominated by China, Japan, and South Korea, which collectively have 85 percent of the share in the market. But the projections are $8 billion by 2033 (CAGR 60 percent). Maritime India Vision 2030 and Amrit Kaal 2047 programs aim to push India to the top 10 shipbuilding nations by 2030 and top 5 by 2047.

The Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision (MAKV) 2047 target is to handle 1300 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA) of coastal cargo. If the demand for the shipbuilding market in India picks up, by 2047, the opportunities can even grow to $237 billion. To achieve this, there is a need for strategic interventions and policy support.

The writer is former Director General, Centre for Air Power Studies. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views.