On June 13, 2023, two warships of INS (Indian Naval Ship) ‘Anjadip’, the 3rd of eight indigenously built Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC), and INS ‘Sanshodhak’, the 4th and last in the series of Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) Project, were launched by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE) at shipbuilding facility of Larsen & Toubro (L&T) in Kattupalli, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- GRSE is now building eight ASWSWCs and four SVLs for the Indian Navy and the Ships are at various stages of completion.
-Launch of INS Anjadip and its Significance:
i.INS Anjadip was launched by Priya Pandit, wife of Vice Admiral R B Pandit, Param Vishisht Seva Medal (PVSM), Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), Commander-in-Chief, Strategic Forces Command.
- It is built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), Kolkata, West Bengal.
ii.The ship was named Anjadip to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Anjadip, which is located off Karwar (Karnataka).
- The island is connected to the mainland by a breakwater and is part of INS Kadamba.
iii.The “Arnala” class of ships will replace the Indian Navy’s in-service “Abhay” class ASW Corvettes.
iv.The Arnala class of ships are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, Low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), and Mine Laying operations including subsurface surveillance in littoral waters.
v.ASW SWC ships are of 77 m long and have a displacement of 900 tons with a maximum speed of 25 knots and endurance of 1800 nautical miles (NM).
Background:
i.In April 2019, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and GRSE, Kolkata, agreed to the construction of eight ASW-SWC ships for the Indian Navy.
ii.In accordance with the deal, the first of eight indigenously built ASW-SWC “Arnala,” was launched in December 2022 at L&T in Kattupalli, Chennai and the second one INS Androth was launched on March 21, 2023, in Kolkata.
iii.As per the build strategy, four ships are being built at GRSE, Kolkata and the construction of a balance of four ships has been subcontracted to M/s L&T Shipbuilding, Kattupalli.
iv.The ASW SWC ships would have more than 80% indigenous content, ensuring that large-scale defence production is carried out by Indian manufacturing companies, generating employment and capabilities in India.
At the end of the launch event, R B Pandit also laid the keel for the 7th ASW SWC ship.
-Launch of INS Sanshodhak and Significance:
INS ‘Sanshodhak’, the fourth and last in the series of Survey Vessels (Large) (SVL) Project, being built by L&T/ GRSE for Indian Navy was launched on 13 June 2023 at Kattupalli, Chennai.
- The chief guest of the Launching Ceremony was VAdm Adhir Arora, Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India.
Significance:
i.The ship named ‘Sanshodhak’, meaning ‘Researcher’, signifies the primary role of the ship as a Survey Vessel.
ii.SVL ships would replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships, with new-generation hydrographic equipment, to collect oceanographic data.
iii.The SVL ships are 110 m long, and 16 m wide with a displacement of 3,400 tons.
iv.The hull of these ships is made from indigenously developed DMR 249-A steel manufactured by the Steel Authority of India Limited.
v.SVL ships have the capability to carry four Survey Motor Boats and an integral helicopter and they could undertake full-scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys of Ports and navigational channels.
vi.The ships also would be deployed for collecting oceanographic and geophysical data for defence as well as civil applications.
vii.The ships are capable of providing limited defence, High availability disaster recovery (HADR), and can serve as Hospital ships during emergencies.
Background:
i.The contract was signed between MoD and GRSE on Oct 30, 2018, for building four survey ships at Rs 2435 Crore.
ii.Survey ships are capable of full-scale coastal & deep-water hydrographic surveys of Ports & Harbour approaches and determination of navigational channels & routes.
iii.The first three ships of the project, Sandhayak, Nirdeshak and Ikshak were launched on 05 Dec 2021, 26 May 2022 and 26 Nov 2022 respectively.
iv.As per the build strategy adopted by GRSE, the first ship is being built at GRSE Ltd and the construction of the balance three ships is envisaged at L&T Shipbuilding, Kattupalli, Chennai (Tamil Nadu).
Key people present at the launching events include Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh AVSM, VSM, CWP&A, Vice Admiral Adhir Arora, AVSM, NM, Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India, and Cmde P R Hari IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director of GRSE.
About Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. (GRSE):
Chairman & Managing Director – Commodore (Retd) PR Hari, Indian Navy
Headquarter– Kolkata, West Bengal
