Mumbai: Mazagon Dock to revamp heritage gallery, trace city’s history through shipbuilding

Established in 2015, the heritage gallery at MDL houses some replica models of ships, including the HMS Minden, a 74-gun ship launched in the Bombay Dockyard in 1810. Also at the gallery are some parts of HMS Trincomalee, considered the second oldest ship in the world. The gallery also houses documents and press clippings from the time MDL was nationalised in 1960.

“Ship building till date remains one of the important industries of the city. We aim to give a period look to the existing gallery,” MDL spokesperson Pervez Panthaky said.

“We are trying to contact each of the above, including the BI, P & O, British Museum, Indian Navy and the National Archives of India to procure documents, film clippings or details of the dock pre-dating 1960s. A dedicated team has been working on the project for six months and we plan to complete the research by November this year,” a senior MDL official said.

Officials plan to procure an original painting of Mary Gordon, the ship exclusively built at the dock in 1839, from the Royal museums in Greenwich, London. They also aim to get original designs of the earliest ships made at the dock, including Hugh Lindsay, one of the first steel ships to be built here.

“We are trying to get in touch with some of the staff members who worked at the dock earlier. In the 18th Century, many workers of Chinese origin did the finer artwork on the ships built by workers who were Pathans. The descendents of some of the Chinese art workers stayed around the

dock for a long period of time. If we are able to contact them, earliest experiences of how ships were built in India could be included,” a senior MDL official said.

A section in the gallery would also pay homage to the work culture in the yard through display of old uniforms of the mariners, photographs of the most remembered employees, etc.

Since 1960, MDL has built a total of 795 vessels, including 25 warships, from advanced destroyers to missile boats and three submarines.

MDL has delivered cargo ships, passenger ships, supply vessels, multipurpose support vessel, water tankers, tugs, dredgers, fishing trawlers, barges and border out posts for various customers in India as well as abroad.

“To transport between the seven islands that later formed Mumbai, traders would use small boats. Historical data that represents how ship building was introduced to the city is being tapped,” an official said.