Kongsberg Maritime Boosts its Indian Operations with New Facility in Kochi

[By: Kongsberg Maritime]

Kongsberg Maritime has opened a new facility in Kochi, India, as part of a strategic drive to enhance customer support and prepare for future assembly of its waterjet products.

Delegates attending the special opening ceremony included Norway’s Ambassador to India, May-Elin Stener, Bejoy Bhasker, Director (Technical), Cochin Shipyard, and senior officials from the Indian Navy and Coastguard.

Located in the Maritime Park adjacent to Cochin Shipyard's International Ship Repair Facility (ISRF), the new Kongsberg Maritime facility will provide local specialist technical support for newbuilding and other projects undertaken within the Cochin Shipyard, and general support for customers in the Kochi region.

Future plans include further expansion and investment to enable the assembly and overhaul of Kongsberg Maritime’s range of Kamewa waterjets, as part of a strategic move to support the Indian Government’s ‘Make in India’ strategy to develop more home-grown capability across a range of industries.

The newly established team will include Service Engineers, providing technical support for the wide range of products in the Kongsberg Maritime portfolio, including propulsion, handling and navigation systems.

Opening the new facility, Norway’s Ambassador to India, May-Elin Stener, said: “KONGSBERG contributes greatly to new technology in the maritime, offshore, aerospace and defence areas and has been operating in India for many years. It is one of our flagship companies, in which the Norwegian government has more than 50% shareholding.

“The opening of this new Kongsberg Maritime facility adds to the growing Norway-India business ties, boosted by the newly signed EFTA-India trade and economic partnership agreement. Norway has had a strong and consistent dialogue with Cochin Shipyard, which has always been forthcoming in supporting Norwegian companies, using their know-how and expertise. We wish Kongsberg and Cochin Shipyard a long-lasting and mutually beneficial relationship, and one that will add to our blue economy and maritime focus areas with India.”

Kongsberg Maritime has a long and established relationship with Cochin Shipyard, and has an extensive customer base in India, including through the provision of mission-critical equipment to the Indian Navy and Indian Coastguard, and a range of commercial customers.

Annette Holte, President, Kongsberg Maritime India said: “It is our pleasure to open this new facility in Kochi and expand our operations in India. Being closer to our customers is a fundamental requirement, and through the establishment of a dedicated team here in Kochi, we can provide support when and where it’s needed. The Kochi area is a true maritime hub. Its expected growth in the years to come is underpinned by high levels of expertise and competence in ship building and repair, and we are delighted to be part of Cochin’s bright future. This is a first step for us, and through strategic partnerships, we expect to expand our operations to include assembly and overhaul capability, for our range of waterjets.”

Bejoy Bhasker, Director (Technical), Cochin Shipyard, said: “CSL has been active in Kochi for the last five decades and has been playing a key role in the development of the region as a hub of ship building and ship repair in the country. It was keeping this in mind that CSL established a Maritime Park close to our greenfield ISRF unit. We therefore warmly welcome Kongsberg Maritime to Kochi. Partnerships such as this auger well for all our stakeholders, as it will help in catalysing the growth of an international eco system at Kochi.”

Senior officers from the Indian Navy and Indian Coastguard joined the opening ceremony. They were highly appreciative of Kongsberg Maritime’s initiative of moving towards fulfilling the India government’s policy push, requirements such as, localisation, ‘Make in India,’ and finally achieving “Atma Nirbhar Bharat” (a self-reliant India), besides strengthening the mutual cooperation, and product support for the Indian Naval and Coastguard force.

The KONGSBERG Group employs around 500 people in India, across defence and maritime, with 150 currently working in Mumbai for the Kongsberg Maritime business. India is also an important country for the company’s supply chain, including supply of all major steel castings for the Kamewa waterjets sold worldwide.