The yard, which books profits on vessel delivery, said in a statement it was preparing to deliver MV Arabian Sea, a 250-passenger vessel; the first of a pair ordered by India's Administration of Union Territories of Lakshadweep.

The vessel, the biggest hull built by the yard, is meant for operation in all weathers on the route from the Indian mainland to the Lakshadweep Islands as well as inter-island routes.

The second of the pair, which can also carry 100 tonnes of cargo, is scheduled to be delivered in early 2010.

Colombo Dockyard, a unit of Japan's Onomichi Dockyard, also said its three drydocks dedicated for repairs have been focusing more on repairing specialised vessels like dredgers and offshore support vessels in recent months.

The largest drydock, once focused on tanker repairs, has been going for multiple drydockings to meet with the market demands and changing trends, it said.

Modern tanks, especially those with double hulls, have become too big to fit into the yard's biggest dock.

The yard earlier this month said it had laid the keel to kick off construction work on the fourth Multi Purpose Supply Vessel for Greatship, India.

Colombo Dockyard's profit for the September 2009 quarter almost doubled from a year ago with earnings boosted by orders to build new vessels for overseas customers.

The yard said September quarter net profit shot up 93 percent to 721 million rupees from a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose 40.2 percent to almost 3.3 billion rupees.

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