Kolkata: In keeping with its commitment towards Aatmanirbharta, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd laid the keel for an advanced Acoustic Research Ship (ARS) that it is building for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a unit of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
The Chief Guest at the occasion was Dr Sameer V. Kamat, Secretary, Department of Defence (R&D) and Chairman, DRDO. Among the others present were Cmde P R Hari, IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE, Cdr Shantanu Bose, IN (Retd.), Director (Shipbuilding), GRSE, Capt (IN) P Sunilkumar, (Retd.), Director (Corporate Planning & Personnel), Niranjan Bhalerao, Director (Finance), GRSE, Dr RV Hara Prasad, DS&DG (NS&M), HQ DRDO, Dr D Seshagiri, OS & Director (NPOL) and other senior officials from GRSE & NPOL.
The contract for the advanced ARS was signed between GRSE and NPOL in October 2024. With an overall length of 93 metres and width of 18 metres, the ARS will be a very advanced platform with state-of-the-art research equipment.
The ARS will be capable of speeds ranging from 4 knots to 12 knots. At top speed, the ship will have an endurance of 30 days or 4,500 nautical miles in a single mission. It will have a complement of 120 personnel.
The capabilities of the ARS will include deployment, towing and retrieval of various equipment such as acoustic modules, carrying out temporal and/or spatial high-resolution surveys of sound velocity profiles and collection of ocean tides/current information to be used for survey optimisation, design of underwater moorings and offshore deployments.
The research vessel will also carry out meteorological surveys to understand the influence of atmospheric parameters in sound propagation studies and undertake shallow water acoustic reverberation studies. It will also be capable of launching, mooring and maintaining standalone buoys and collecting data from them. Its wide speed range will allow the ship to operate at multiple speed regimes to carry out acoustic systems trials, while maintaining silence.
The ARS will also have a dynamic positioning system that will allow it to maintain position in intact condition up to Sea State 4. The vessel will have diesel-electric propulsion and three (3) deck cranes will be fitted on board to handle research equipment.
GRSE has necessary experience in the construction of research and survey ships. It delivered the first series of Sandhayak Class of Survey Vessels to the Navy in the 80s and 90s. In 1994, GRSE delivered the INS Sagardhwani to the NPOL. This is a Marine Acoustic Research Ship that is still in service and returned to GRSE recently for a major refit and upgradation.
Between 2023 and now, GRSE also delivered the INS Sandhayak, INS Nirdeshak and INS Ikshak to the Navy. These are three vessels of the second series of four Sandhayak Class of Survey Vessels (Large) being built by the shipyard.
On July 16, 2024, GRSE also signed a contract with the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, for construction of an advanced Ocean Research Vessel (ORV). The shipyard is also building two Coastal Research Vessels for the Geological Survey of India.
Congratulating GRSE on achieving the second milestone for the ARS within six to seven months, Dr Kamat said, “NPOL has been operating Sagar Dhwani, built by GRSE since 1994 and over the last 31 years, the ship has done yeoman service. So, It is very important that we build this new ship with capabilities which are much more than what was available in Sagar Dhwani. I am sure that GRSE will live up to the challenge and deliver the ship within the timelines”.
Cmde PR Hari, IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE, paid his respects to the Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on his 94th birth anniversary and spoke on the array of efforts being made by the shipyard to build modern ships of all kinds.
“In addition to core warship building, we have also been contributing towards research and development, specifically focusing on creation of new products, especially in the field of autonomous platforms, green energy vessels and portable steel bridges. Also, currently we are the only shipyard in the country building research vessels- the Hydrographic Survey Vessels for the Indian Navy, the Acoustic Research Ship for the DRDO, the Ocean Research Vessel for the Ministry of Earth Sciences, and Coastal Research Vessels for the Geological Survey of India,” he said.
