Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, a defence PSU, handed over survey vessel INS Nirdeshak to the Indian Navy on Tuesday, according to an official.
INS Nirdeshak is the second of four such vessels being built by GRSE, with the first delivered to the Navy ten months ago in December 2023. According to the GRSE official, these are the country’s largest survey vessels built for the Indian Navy.
INS Nirdeshak, which is 110 metres long, will join INS Sandhayak, GRSE’s first Survey Vessel Large (SVL), in providing the country’s naval forces with the most up-to-date survey data, which is critical for operations.
The Sandhayak-class SVLs can conduct maritime boundary surveys and collect oceanographic and geographical data for defense purposes, bolstering India’s maritime capabilities, according to a GRSE official.
These vessels can each transport a helicopter, engage in low-intensity combat, and serve as hospital ships.
“We are proud to deliver this ship 10 months after the first one in the series,” said GRSE chairman and managing director Cmde P R Hari (retd).
He stated that these warships contain a high percentage of indigenous content and are consistent with the Union government’s policy of self-reliance.
Hari stated that GRSE is currently building 17 more warships for the Indian Navy, including three P-17A advanced frigates, eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft, and four next-generation offshore patrol vessels.
