Danish companies are willing to absorb the higher initial cost of building ships in India as geopolitical tensions drive Western economies to diversify shipbuilding supply chains, Denmark’s Ambassador to India Rasmus Abildgaard Kristensen said on Wednesday.
A Denmark-India feasibility study is examining opportunities in naval and commercial shipbuilding, while a pre-feasibility study has identified potential green shipping corridors to and from India. In 2025, Chinese shipyards received about 35.37 million compensated gross tonnes (CGT) of new orders—roughly 63% of the global total—while South Korean yards received 11.6 million CGT, or about 21%, according to Clarksons Research., underlining the concentration that Western economies want to diversify away from.
He said India would likely initially build smaller vessels such as coasters before gradually moving towards larger ocean-going ships as its capabilities and supplier ecosystem expand.
