Changing Dynamics Of Dredging Industry

As maritime sector is going through a makeover, to understand the changing dynamics of dredging industry globally and in India in particular, we caught up with Prof. Dr. George Yesu Vedha Victor, President, Mercator Limited; and Member of Board, EADA, & Secretary General, EADA (India).

- Sisir Pradhan

Indian dredging industry is about 6.85 per cent of the global dredging market, but for long the dredging industry in India had experienced a hard time with very little fresh investment pouring into the sector. Though ambitious projects like inland waterways, river linking and Sagarmala generated some interest amid investors in the dredging sector but many of these projects hardly moved beyond announcement. The picture looked more gloomy when Union Cabinet announced to sell entire equity of the government in Dredging Corporation of India (DCI), but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it has already generated much needed curiosity amid investors in the Indian dredging scene. Currently, Indian dredging market is majorly dominated by Essar, Mercator, Marg, Dharti Dredging, apart from couple of Dutch and Belgian MNCs such as Jan De Nul, Dredging International, Royal Boskalis, and Van Oord. Industry veteran Prof. (Dr.) George Yesu Vedha Victor, President, Mercator Limited; and Member of Board, EADA, & Secretary General, EADA (India) believes that the current dredging market is on the predicted lines, although the maintenance dredging activities is saturated and the capital dredging works shall commence. Maintenance dredging shall continue to remain saturated for the next couple of years, before the turn around will take place. For the next 3 to 4 years, the capital dredging is likely to increase and subsequently maintenance dredging shall be required and hence by 2022, maintenance dredging shall linearly increase from its present saturation. “If India looks to attract giant vessels and stimulate EXIM activities, it is imperative that upgradation of the existing ports is imminent, however the extent of the upgradation needs to be studied as most of the major ports were not designed to take the load of the giant vessels and the deepening of the channel shall not be viable considering the foundation of structures,” Prof. (Dr.) Vict