IME(I) and INA’s cooperation centre for national maritime technology

A Centre-of-Cooperation to address the growing need for national maritime technology advancement has been established between The Institute of Marine Engineers (India) and the Institution of Naval Architects (INA) at the IME(I) House Nerul on the 28th of January, 2023.

The Centre was inaugurated by Prof. R.P. Gokarn, Retd. Prof. Head (NA & ME) & Dean Academics IIT Kharagpur & Retd. Prof. IMU, and a consultant to OERC during its formative years. The Centre was inaugurated by the traditional ‘lighting the lamp’, ushering in an era in pursuit of knowledge by Marine Engineers and Naval Architects. The two professional bodies have been collaborating in the past by holding INMARCO-INAvation conferences in 2010 and 2014 and working to support the various endeavours by the industry and government over many years. Among those physically attending the event included other eminent Maritime professionals e.g. Shri M. V. Ramamurthy, Shri Arun Kumar Gupta, Shri Rajeev Nayyar, Cmde.

Bhupesh Tater (Retd.), Shri Sahai Raj, Shri Naresh Chugh, Shri Ashwini Kumar, Shri A. J. Das, Shri Avinash Upadhye, Shri H. V. Ramesh etc.

In the brief introductory speech before the technical session that followed the inauguration Mr. J. Dasgupta, President of INA gave a brief background of the initial discussions between the two professional bodies. He thanked IME(I) for taking the initiative and assured that this Centre of Cooperation will sincerely endeavour to support maritime industry in design and construction for efficient and safe operation of ships and other maritime units. The Centre was dedicated to the young future generation of maritime technical professionals who would have to stand up and take the responsibility to carry the torch for bigger achievements.

The Technical Session following the inauguration was chaired by Prof. R. P. Gokarn consisted of two excellent presentations in Hybrid Zoom format. The first presentation by Shri Avinash Upadhye, Head, International Business Development (Defence and Aerospace), L&T covered “Genesis, Evolution and Future of Integrated Electric Propulsion” wherein the author discussed electric propulsion in naval ships across the globe, the difficulties faced by various navies and how Indian designers are addressing and circumventing the issues to achieve better reliability and efficiency for differing missions.

The second session was a very interesting presentation by Shri Arun Kumar Gupta, Chairman IME(I) Mumbai Branch & Ex. CMD, Shipping Corporation of India on “Chahabar –India’s first Overseas Port Project” in Iran at a strategic location east of the Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf of Oman. He covered the strategic importance of this port in the maritime connectivity of Afghanistan, Iran, and Baluchistan in West Pakistan, and the land connectivity for trade through this port. Mr. Gupta also covered other port projects under discussion and development by Indian Government in the Indian Ocean region.

Cmde. KE Mathew, IN (Retd), Director (Shipbuilding), Hindustan Shipyard Limited, the Chief Guest for the Event, participated on-line from Vishakhapatnam. He congratulated the speakers for their excellent, topical and futuristic presentations of two different genres in the maritime field. He gave a brief outline of the presentations and their utility from his perspective.

The Technical session was concluded with a vote of thanks from Dr. V. B. S. Ayyangar of NSTL, Vizag.