Arabs place orders for vessels with Gujarat shipping industry

Call it another adventure by the wealthy Arabs.

A cost-cutting move by industrialists in the Gulf has resulted in reviving the 200-year-old wooden shipping industry in Gujarat. The cash-rich Arabs are placing orders for ancient vessels to carry livestock, mainly for meat, to the Middle East. Modern vessels had cornered a bulk of the cargo business during the shipping industry’s boom, leaving those in the manufacture of vessels to businesses like ferrying fish and other products to destinations within the state. The entry of sheikhs is seen as a much-required boost. Locally known as vahanvatti, the wooden ship building industry exists in Mandvi and Salaya ports. However, the past two years have seen massive orders coming from the Middle East and Africa to make huge wooden ships. Wooden ship manufacturers say that the cost of such ships range from Rs 1 crore to Rs 5 crore, based on their tonnage and size and have a life of about 30 years. The registration of the wooden cargo ships is done at the destination and by the purchaser.
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