Chowgule Steamships Limited (CSL) was incorporated in April, 1963, with three liberty ships to facilitate the transportation needs of iron ore exports of its parent company, Chowgule & Company Pvt. Ltd. With the changing fortunes of the steel industry by the early 1980’s, virtually all the ships of CSL were deployed on the international cross trades.
In the last four decades, CSL has emerged as a pioneer in the Indian shipping sector. It not only built the first Indian bulk carrier for an Indian owner, named M.V. Maratha Progress, but also pioneered the first Indian phosphoric acid carrier by converting a dry bulk vessel. It started the Indian coastal trade by transporting clinker to split plants at Ratnagiri and Magdalla, which led to the development of minor ports in Gujarat and Maharashtra.
Today, CSL has an international fleet of four Handysize vessels, with a total capacity (inclusive of wholly-owned foreign subsidiaries) of 138,559 DWT and an average age of eight years. These are engaged in time charters with reputed international charterers, moving bulk cargoes like grain, coal, fertilisers, steel, alumina etc.