..:: India Strategic ::. Navy: Indian Navy commissions three UAE-supplied Immediate Support Vessels

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Editorial

Indian Navy commissions three UAE-supplied Immediate Support Vessels

Published: March 2015

Visakhapatnam. The Indian Navy commissioned three Immediate Support Vessels (ISVs) supplied by UAE’s Abu Dhabi Ship Builders (ADSB) at an impressive ceremony here March 24.

Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Eastern Naval Command’s Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, who commissioned them, praised their quality and sturdiness, pointing out that the three ISVs had sailed 1,200 nautical miles from Mumbai to Visakhapatnam over a duration of 12 days before reaching here. “That proved their sturdiness as the boats had crossed successfully the Gulf of Mannar facing strong winds and high seas.”

Built on reinforced fiberglass hulls, the ISVs are armed with Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) and sophisticated radars and navigation equipment for littoral warfare and defence operations, particularly against terror attempts. The ISVs are Indian Navy’s light patrol boats, configured to carry commandos for any eventuality.

The 25-meter ships are fitted with two Caterpillar engines of 1600 MHP each to provide water jet propulsion, providing them a high speed of 40 knots and an endurance of 500 nautical miles. These ships are capable of carrying out day and night surveillance and can be used for rapid insertions/extraction of MARCOS (Indian Navy commandos) for military intervention.

The vessels were initially delivered in Mumbai on India’s West Coast, and then brought here.

ADSB had won a tender for nine ISVs from the Indian Navy some time back, and the first batch of six was delivered last year. With the delivery of the remaining three, ADSB has successfully completed the contract, Navy Spokesman Captain Sharma told India Strategic.

Five vessels were built by ADSB itself at its Mussafah facility on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi, and four by Rodman Spain under contract from ADSB. Weapons and electronic systems were integrated by ADSB.

ADSB has been building similar vessels for UAE and other Gulf countries for several years.

The three ships were given pennant numbers T 38, T 39 and T 40, and their respective commanders, Lieutenants Jai Kishore, Shobhit Saxena and Vaibhav Bhardwaj read out their commissioning warrants after they were introduced by Commodore KA Bopanna, Naval Officer-in-Charge (NOIC), Andhra Pradesh area.

Notably, under the ISV Project, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) funded acquisition of 23 ISVs for the Navy, 14 of which were indigenously built by Mumbai-based SHM Shipcare.