NEW DELHI. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has awarded contract for design, construction and supply of four Survey Vessels for Indian Navy to Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Limited, Kolkata after it became successful bidder in the competitive bidding.
The contract was signed between the MoD and GRSE in New Delhi on October 30.
The contract was signed by Joint Secretary & Acquisition Manager (MS) Ravi Kant on behalf of the Ministry and Director (Shipbuilding) Cmde S Nayyar IN (Retd) for GRSE, Kolkata.
It may be noted here that Request for Proposal (RfP) was issued by Indian Navy to four PSU shipyards viz. GRSE, Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) and two Indian Private Shipyards in April 2016, with GRSE emerging as the lowest and successful bidder.
The order value for these four vessels is Rs. 2435.15 crore. The first ship is to be delivered within 36 months and remaining within an interval of six months for each vessel. The project completion time is 54 months from date of signing the contract.
With this prestigious contract, GRSE’s Order Book as on date stands at Rs. 22,604 crore. The GRSE is currently handling a major project to make three Stealth Frigates for Indian Navy under P17A Project.
The defence PSU has been a pioneer warship builder of the nation having delivered the highest number of warships till date since its inception in 1960. The 98 warships built by GRSE so far range from Advanced Frigates to Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes to Fleet Tankers, Fast Attack Crafts, etc. with the Shipyard having many firsts to its credit in terms of Innovation and Design.
It has already delivered six Sandhayak Class Survey Vessels to Indian Navy between the period February 1981 to February 1993. The present project will further consolidate GRSE’s position as a unique shipyard with all round capability to design and build Survey Vessels with state-of-the-art technology.
These Survey Vessels (Large) shall be 110 metre long with deep displacement of 3,300 tonnes and complement of 231, capable of fullscale coastal and deep-water hydrographic survey of ports and harbours, approaches and determination of navigational channels/routes.
In addition, the vessels shall undertake surveys of maritime limits up to EEZ/extended continental shelf. These shall be deployed for collection of oceanographic and geophysical data for defence applications. In their secondary role, these shall be capable of performing limited search & rescue, limited ocean research and operate as hospital ship/casualty holding ships.
The vessels are equipped with highly advanced state-of-the-art hydrographic equipment & sensors including a Hello Hanger to accommodate one Advanced Light Helicopter.
The design and construction of these ships by GRSE will truly signify ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government.
Vessels will be built as per Classification Society Rules and Naval Ship Regulations and will conform to latest MARPOL (Marine Pollution) Standards of the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
