Version 1: Maersk brings a ship to India for its first planned dry docking

Maersk Chattogram is being serviced at L&T's Kattupalli shipyard near Chennai, a small first for India's ship repair business.

Picture a giant container ship being lifted right out of the sea like a toy boat. That is about to happen near Chennai. On 19 October 2026, the Danish shipping giant Maersk said it will do its first planned dry docking in India.

The ship is called Maersk Chattogram. It flies the flag of Singapore. It was expected at L&T's Kattupalli Shipyard near Chennai on 20 October 2026, subject to weather and work conditions. Officials confirmed to The Economic Times that the vessel has arrived.

It sounds like one ship getting a service. But for India's trade and shipyards, it is a small, important first.

What is dry docking, in plain words?

Think of a scooter. Every few months it goes to the garage for a service. The mechanic checks the brakes, the engine and the tyres. A ship needs the same thing. The problem is that a big part of a ship always sits under water. You cannot fix what you cannot reach.

So the ship is taken into a dry dock. This is a special place in a shipyard where the ship is out of the water, so workers can walk under it. Dry docking is a planned process for checking, servicing and repairing the parts that are usually under water, along with the machinery, equipment and propulsion system. Propulsion is the part that pushes the ship forward, like the propeller.

Maersk says this service is part of the ship's normal life. It includes a special survey, which is a deep check-up, a bit like a full health report card for the ship. Work will cover the hull (the body of the ship), the machinery and the propellers. The company says this kind of work keeps a ship safe and reliable for the next five years.

Four steps light up: the ship sails into the shipyard, a shiplift raises it out of the water, hull, engines and propellers are checked and fixed, and the ship goes back to sea — A dry docking is a full service for a ship, done out of the water.

How do you lift a whole ship?

Here is the fun part. Maersk Chattogram will not just float into a dock. It will be lifted out of the water using India's largest shiplift system, at L&T Shipbuilding in Kattupalli.

A shiplift works like a giant elevator for ships. The ship sails onto a platform that is under water. Then the platform rises and carries the ship up into the air, so workers can reach every part of it.

Kattupalli is a coastal area in Tamil Nadu's Tiruvallur district. As per ship tracking data, the vessel reached Kattupalli Port on 18 October, just a short drive from the L&T yard.

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How did this deal come about?

Maersk and Larsen & Toubro, or L&T, signed an MoU during India Maritime Week 2025. An MoU, or Memorandum of Understanding, is a written promise to work together. It is like two friends agreeing to start a samosa stall before they actually buy the oil and the flour.

That MoU set up a plan to explore working together on shipbuilding, ship repair and sharing knowledge of global standards. This dry docking is the first real job to come out of it.

The work will bring together Maersk's fleet and technical teams with L&T and Indian subcontractors, suppliers and maritime service providers. A subcontractor is a smaller company hired to do one part of a big project, like the painter hired by the builder of a house.

Before and after panels: before, Maersk had never done a planned dry docking in India; in October 2026, Maersk Chattogram docks at L&T Kattupalli near Chennai — One ship, one shipyard, and a first for Maersk in India.

Why does ship repair matter so much?

Ship repair is a big business around the world. The global ship repair and maintenance market in 2026 is valued at $32 to 41 billion, and India's share is less than 2%, as per Business Today. So for now, most of this money is earned by shipyards in other countries.

When a foreign ship gets fixed in India, the shipping company pays an Indian shipyard. That is a bit like a tourist paying for a meal at a local dhaba. Money from outside comes in, and local workers and suppliers earn from it.

There is also a reason repair work is attractive to shipyards. Building a new ship can take three to five years. Repairs are much quicker. A Rear Admiral quoted by Business Today said that in repair work, the money is not blocked for years.

India's sea trade is getting bigger

India moves a huge amount of goods by sea. Its export-import cargo is about 1.2 billion tonnes today and is expected to reach nearly 5.7 billion tonnes by 2047. Right now, 90 to 95% of it is carried by ships owned by foreign companies.

More cargo means more ships calling at Indian ports. And every one of those ships needs a service now and then. That is the space Indian shipyards want to grow into.

A counter rises to 5.7 billion tonnes beside bars rising from 1.2, showing India's expected export-import cargo by 2047 — India's sea cargo is expected to grow almost five times by 2047.

Other Indian shipyards are moving too

L&T is not alone. In September 2026, Cochin Shipyard signed a 50:50 joint venture with Dubai's Drydocks World, part of DP World. A joint venture is a new company that two firms own together. The deal, worth about Rs 1,800 crore, will run and expand the International Ship Repair Facility in Kochi.

That Kochi facility was built at a cost of Rs 970 crore and started work in August 2024. It can repair up to 82 vessels in a year, as per The Week. The CEO of Drydocks World said his company sees chances to expand ship repair across India.

L&T, too, has proposed a Rs 1,100 crore expansion at its Kattupalli shipyard to strengthen its shipbuilding and repair work.

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What both sides said

Maersk's Dinesh Kumar Balraj, Head of Fleet Operations East, called the docking "a meaningful step towards turning our collaboration with L&T into action". L&T's Arun Ramchandani said the two companies aim to "strengthen domestic capabilities and supply chains" in shipbuilding.

The big picture

One ship getting serviced will not change India's trade overnight. But firsts matter. When a global shipping line trusts an Indian yard with a full, planned service, other ship owners notice. If more of them follow, India could earn more from the ships that already sail past its 7,500 km coastline.

As it was first published

Maersk brings a ship to India for its first planned dry docking