India’s Cochin Shipyard has begun construction work on four passenger/general cargoships for the Andaman & Nicobar Islands administration.

To upgrade what is becoming an increasingly ancient fleet of hybrid passenger/general cargoships, the Andaman and Nicobar administration has ordered two 14,000-gross-ton (gt) vessels and a pair of 6,700-gt units.

Designed by Danish naval architects Knud E Hansen and India’s Smart Engineering & Design Solutions, the larger ships will have a capacity to carry 1,200 passengers and 1,000 tonnes of general cargo.