In line with the Indian government's strategic objective to enhance domestic shipbuilding capacity, the state-owned Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) has issued a tender for the construction of four methanol dual-fuel Aframax tankers, with a total newbuilding value of approximately $300 million.

As India's national carrier, SCI has explicitly stipulated in the tender that these tankers must be constructed at Indian shipyards.

Furthermore, Indian yards with prior experience in building Aframax tankers have been invited to bid. Shipyards without such experience are also eligible to participate, provided they establish a technical partnership or consortium with an internationally recognized shipyard or design firm that has delivered at least three Aframax or larger crude oil tankers within the past five years.

Multiple shipbuilding industry sources point out that no Indian shipyard has ever constructed an Aframax tanker to date. Should SCI ultimately place this order domestically, it would represent the first-ever Aframax newbuilding contract in the nation's shipbuilding history. According to Clarksons Shipping Intelligence Weekly, the current newbuilding market price for an Aframax tanker stands at approximately $74 million per vessel.

The Indian government has been aggressively promoting the development of the domestic shipbuilding sector in recent years, explicitly setting a target to rank among the world's top ten shipbuilding nations by 2030 and to break into the top five by 2047. This SCI tender is viewed as a key measure in executing that strategy.

In addition to the Aframax tanker project, SCI has initiated several other newbuilding programs recently:

Last month, SCI issued a tender for 2+4 methanol dual-fuel-ready container vessels with a capacity of approximately 1,700 TEU. This project also prioritizes domestic Indian shipyards.

Prior to that, SCI tendered for eight Very Large Gas Carriers (VLGCs) of 88,000 cubic metres, six of which would be built in India. Domestic yards participating in the bidding include Cochin Shipyard, Swan Defence and Heavy Industries, and L&T Shipbuilding.

These three shipyards, alongside a consortium formed by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers and Hindustan Shipyard, are also bidding for up to four 50,000 dwt dual-fuel-ready MR product tankers. SCI is advancing these orders in partnership with major domestic refiners including Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Hindustan Petroleum.