Current Issue Vol 22.2 April-June 2007
Articles
Time to Unshackle our Shipyards
Admiral Arun Prakash, PVSM, AVSM, VrC, VSM
When Rear Admiral Ganeshan spoke to me about a seminar on Warship Building a few weeks ago, I conveyed the Navy’s wholehearted approval and support because I am convinced that we must open the windows of our mind to new ideas, and undertake serious introspection, if we are to improve our performance. I was, therefore, privileged and delighted to be there to share some thoughts with a very distinguished audience, where all the luminaries of the ship building industry were present.
It is an often overlooked fact that India’s maritime tradition goes back to a few millennia before the Christian era. Out west coast has historically seen intense trade and commercial activity being undertaken by sea, with the Persian Gulf, Mediterranean and the east African littoral. From the east coast, successive dynasties which ruled peninsular India up to the 12th century AD, sent waves of adventurous seafarers to spread Indian culture and civilisation to south-east Asia where it is very much in evidence even to this day.
A maritime tradition can only survive on a sound ship-building industry, and here we need to remind ourselves that we are the proud inheritors of the world’s oldest dry dock built during the Harappan period circa 2400 BC in Lothal, Gujarat. While the ancient dhow-building tradition of our west coast ensured that Indian vessels were ubiquitous in the Indian Ocean, many generations of the Wadia family of master ship-builders sent Bombay-built sloops, schooners, merchantmen, and men of’ war sailing the seven seas.
Economic Resurgence
Today, India’s economic resurgence is directly linked to her dependence on trade and commerce, most of which is conducted by sea. It is vital, not just for India’s security but also for her continued prosperity, that we possess a Navy which will protect the nation’s vast and varied maritime interests. The Navy’s role is to help maintain peace in the Indian Ocean, meet the expectations of our friends and neighbours in times of need, and underpin India’s status as a regional power.
Whenever an Indian-built warship sails into a foreign port today, it receives looks of admiration, not unmixed with surprise that a third world industry is capable of such sophistication. We are fortunate that the seeds of a self-reliant blue-water Navy were laid by our far-sighted predecessors when they embarked on the brave venture of undertaking modem warship construction in this country four decades ago. We certainly need to acknowledge that our shipyards have done us proud by delivering 85 warships to the Navy in this period.
Product Improvement
The first Leander class frigate was built under licence in Mazagon Docks Ltd., in 1972. The basic hull form has thereafter been stretched, broadened, re-designed and rearmed by our ingenuous naval architects, and eleven ships later we have seen the progressive metamorphosis of INS Nilgiri into INS Beas commissioned last year. Armed with a hybrid and eclectic weapon suite, this frigate is arguably one of the most unique and powerful warships in her class today.
Currently, the Indian Navy has on order 27 ships which include fast attack craft, landing ships (tank), frigates, destroyers, submarines and an aircraft carrier; and there are more in the pipeline. In addition, the Indian Coast Guard has its own acquisition plans. I doubt if the ship-building industry of any other country can look forward to such an attractive and “mouth-watering” prospect.
It is an article of faith with us in Navy Headquarters that we will create a “home grown” navy, and our commitment to indigenisation in the long term, is total. We are today offering a unique opportunity to the country’s shipbuilding industry, along with its ancillaries, to help us build a great navy commensurate with India’s stature.
Maintain Force Level
But let me at the same time state clearly that we are talking about maintaining the Navy’s force levels, which is an issue that impinges on national security. Without being alarmed, I would like to sound a note of warning that unless we can accelerate our warship production we may be heading for a crisis. The bottom line is that the Navy’s force levels have to be maintained; and if our yards are unable to deliver quality warships on time; we will have no choice but with great reluctance to buy them from abroad.
In this context, let me flag two or three issues which in my opinion have great relevance.
Firstly, the endemic delays and cost overruns which have dogged our warship-building programmes are beginning to take their toll. While the ultimate cost of our warships is still cheaper than the rest of the world, the actual sums involved are rising rapidly in successive projects. Those who sanction our budget are becoming skeptical, and we are soon going to have a crisis of confidence on our hands unless we can bring far more accuracy to our forecast of project costs and times. Both the Navy and the industry need to reflect deeply on this issue, because I know from my personal experience that on one hand, people who draw up Staff Requirements in service HQs suffer from two syndromes. They have the habit of asking for the “best” when the “good enough” would do equally well.
They also have a mortal dread of obsolescence creeping up on the equipment that they have selected. So they simply refuse to freeze the qualitative requirements (QRs) till the programme starts to slip badly.
On the other hand, the shipyards on their part, use such delays not only to cover up their own slippages, but also add to the costs by billing the project for an idle workforce and infrastructure.
Secondly, as far as the functioning of our shipbuilding industry is concerned, the work ethic, efficiency and productivity remain rooted in the past. It is possible that full order books tend to generate complacency and that is perhaps why one does not often see signs of commercial, financial, or technical innovation. I feel that much more can be done by the industry as far as introduction of modern technical practices as well as better financial and human resource management are concerned.
At the same time, I would also exhort the Managing Directors themselves to be bold and innovative in their approach. You have the opportunity of a lifetime to leave your imprint on a national undertaking. Try to emulate the Indian industry outside which is performing miracles and attaining world-class standards. Your workforce fully understands the reality that they must enhance productivity or perish; it is for you to go to them and enlist their full support.
The last point I wish to discuss is our concept of “self-reliance”. We know that colossal resources in terms of skills, expertise, and infrastructure need to be mustered in order to produce a: modern warship or submarine, it is obvious that the undertaking is no longer going to be an activity that can be confined to a single shipyard. The “self-sufficiency” that we seek, should, therefore, be in certain well-defined core areas and in our quest for self-sufficiency, we should not waste time and resources in re-inventing the wheel. Whenever required for better efficiency, and wherever it will save time, we should enlist outside expertise or consultancy from India or abroad.
With current order books full, and an ambitious warship building programme in prospect, our shipyards need to evolve solutions to deliver ships in much shorter time frames. There is obviously, an urgent need to explore new strategies, in terms of partnerships with other enterprises within India or even globally in order to achieve better efficiency in production and management.
Public-Private Partnerships
Our private sector has many strengths, and has proved itself in the international arena. I think the time has now come to invite the private sector to contribute to warship-building by creating public-private partnerships, and joint-ventures, or even leasing, outsourcing and off-loading as required. The powerful synergy of both public and private enterprise must be harnessed for the national good.
I am afraid that I have tended to concentrate on rather mundane issues of costs and productivity because these are of immediate concern to me. There are a host of exciting technologies waiting to be explored by our shipbuilding industry; from radical hull-forms to new propulsion packages to signature management, computer-aided design and modular assembly. But I have no doubt that these and many other areas are going to be addressed in this seminar.
In conclusion, I must warmly applaud the initiative taken by Messrs. Garden Reach in organising this seminar on “Warship Building: Trends and Way Ahead”. It is heartening to see that there has been an enthusiastic response from world leaders in warship-building, from classification societies and many associated industries.
I am confident that this will form an ideal platform for discussion and exchange of ideas regarding the challenges being faced by the Indian warship building industry. I sincerely hope that many benefits will flow from it.
"