)
Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd on Tuesday delivered survey vessel INS Nirdeshak to the Indian Navy, an official said.
INS Nirdeshak is the second in a series of four such vessels being constructed by GRSE, with the first delivered to the Navy 10 months ago in December 2023. These are the largest survey vessels for the Indian Navy to be built in the country, the GRSE official said.
At 110 metres long, INS Nirdeshak will join INS Sandhayak, the first Survey Vessel Large (SVL) delivered by GRSE, to keep the country's naval forces equipped with the latest survey data, which is essential for operations.
The Sandhayak-class SVLs can undertake surveys of maritime limits and collect oceanographic and geographical data for defence applications, which adds muscle to India's maritime capabilities, the GRSE official said.
These vessels can each carry a helicopter and participate in low-intensity combat and function as hospital ships.
"We are proud to deliver this ship 10 months after the first one in the series," GRSE chairman and managing director Cmde P R Hari (retd) said.
He said these warships have a high percentage of indigenous content and are in keeping with the Union government's policy of self-reliance.
Hari said GRSE is at present building 17 more warships for the Indian Navy, including three P-17A advanced frigates, eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts and four next-generation offshore patrol vessels.
