L & T Shipyards

The yard is located out at 65 Kattupalli Road, which is quite a trek into Thiruvellur. When you work here, you get used to the smell of the sea and the sound of heavy metal being moved around. It’s a massive space, and you can see the hulls of the ships from quite a distance away. Working at the shipyard isn't for everyone; it’s hard work and the sun can be brutal out here on the coast. We spend our days out in the open or in the large sheds, dealing with whatever needs doing. Kattupalli Road is often busy with trucks bringing in supplies and taking things out. It’s a very industrial part of the world. We’ve been stationed here for a while, and the size of the projects still surprises us sometimes. You see something start as a skeleton and slowly become a whole vessel. It takes a lot of people to make that happen. We just show up, put in the hours, and try to stay out of the midday heat when we can. It’s a lot of welding, painting, and moving parts. The logistics of a shipyard are pretty complicated, but we don't think about that too much, we just focus on the task right in front of us. It’s a long commute for some of us, but this is where the work is.