New state-of-art vessel joins Navy
Express News Service
Kolkata, June 8: THE Indian Navy will have a new addition in the form of a landing ship tank, INS Kesari. The INS Kesari, designed and built by the Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited in Kolkata, was christened today according to navy tradition and launched by Sandhya Prasad, wife of Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Yashwant Prasad.
The ship, which will augment the navy’s amphibious capabilities for its various maritime duties and operations, is a 90 per cent indigenous effort by the GRSE. INS Kesari, Yard 3015 in GRSE parlance, is the second of the three follow-on ships of the same class ordered by the Indian Navy in December 2001.
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Its predecessor, INS Shardul, was launched in April last year and is currently being outfitted for maritime duties. The INS Kesari will now be outfitted for naval service on the high seas.
The 124.8-metre-long and 17.5-metre-wide vessel is equipped with state-of-the-art battle damage control and electrical warfare systems along with an inner bow door for added safety. The ship will also feature Integrated Propulsion Remote Control system, and two WM 18 rocket launchers and four anti-aircraft guns as on board armaments.
Capable of a top speed of 15.8 knots, the INS Kesari — displacing 5,600 tonnes — has been designed to carry 11 main battle tanks, 10 army vehicles and up to 500 soldiers into battle zones.
Speaking at the occasion of the launch, Yashwant Prasad said, ‘‘Each of the ships cost the Indian Navy about Rs 400 crores. The GRSE have constructed this ship in just 17 months right from the keel laying and have delivered a substantially improved vessel in its class.’’
He added, ‘‘The Indian Navy, which has invested Rs 180 crores, has many other follow-on projects slated for the GRSE, including ASW corvettes and Fast Attack Crafts (FAC).’’ He, however, said that the projects were slated for the 10th and 11th Plans, and not the next fiscal year.
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India to supply spares to Vietnamese navy:-
New Delhi | June 07, 2005 4:43:22 PM IST
New Delhi, June 7 : India will supply to Vietnam’s navy much-needed spares for its Russian-made warships as part of its efforts to step up maritime cooperation with countries of the Indian Ocean region.
“As part of enhanced maritime cooperation between the two countries, INS Magar, an amphibious ship, will carry a shipment of 900 boxes weighing 150 tonnes of Petya and missile boat spares for the Vietnamese navy,” navy spokesman Lieutenant Commander Balbir Singh said here Tuesday.
The supply of the spares had been agreed to during the visit of Vietnam’s Defence Minister Pham Van Tra to India in March.
Indian Navy officials said Vietnam was an important part of India’s extended maritime neighbourhood and bilateral relations had gone from strength to strength in recent years.
This has been the result of positive initiatives from both the sides and a “realisation of the mutual benefits that can accrue through enhanced interaction between the two sides”, the officials said.
“These spares will be of immense value to the Vietnamese Navy that operates a number of Russian-built Petya and OSA II-class missile boats,” Singh said.
Vice Admiral O.P. Bansal, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India’s Eastern Naval Command, will be present when the spares are handed over to the Vietnamese navy later this week at Ho Chi Minh City.
The Indian Navy is committed to making the Indian Ocean region as well as the Asian maritime region stable and peaceful.
“India is keen that the freedom of the seas and the safety of the sea-lanes of communication are guaranteed for all nations,” said Singh.
“To fulfil this commitment, the Indian Navy maintains constant vigil over its waters to stave off adversity and is continuously forging cooperative ventures with navies which could act in league for the larger common maritime good of the region and the world.”
(IANS)
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