PRESS
RELEASE
NEW YEAR GIFT – MAJOR PRODUCTION
MILESTONES ACHIEVED BY GRSE : ONE FPV DELIVERED AND TWIN KEELS OF ASWSWCs
LAID
Kolkata (December 31, 2022): The
last day of 2022 turned out to be yet another Red-Letter Day for Garden Reach
Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd with the shipyard delivering an in-house
designed warship to the Indian Coast Guard and laying the keels of two yet again
in-house designed ASWSWCs for the Indian Navy within a span of a few hours.
The day started with the delivery of ICGS Kamla Devi, the 5th Fast
Patrol Vessel (FPV) of its class built by GRSE to the Indian Coast Guard. Later in
the day, keels were laid at the Rajabagan Dockyard (RBD) in Kolkata for the 5th and
6th Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWCs), being built by GRSE for
the Indian Navy. The important milestone heralding the start of a ship’s
construction at site was achieved in the presence of Shri Giridhar Aramane, Defence
Secretary, GoI. Vice Admiral Kiran Deshmukh, AVSM, VSM, Controller of Warship
Production & Acquisition, Cmde P R Hari IN (Retd), Chairman and Managing Director,
GRSE, Shri R K Dash, Director (Finance), GRSE, Cdr S Bose, IN (Retd), Director
(Shipbuilding), GRSE, other Senior Officials of GRSE and Indian Navy also witnessed
the ceremony.
As per GRSE’s custom, the keel laying of 5th & 6th ASWSWC were done by
senior operatives of GRSE Shri Kallol Chakraborty & Shri Nemai Ch. Santra
respectively. The important milestones of Ship Production involve the process of
Cutting of steel which is called the 'Start Production' stage followed by ‘Keel
laying’ subsequent to which, the other blocks are built around the keel block. These
ASWSWC vessels are classed by IR Class.
In line with the Government of India’s Start Up India Mission, GRSE
engaged with a start-up, M/s Tvasta Manufacturing Solutions Pvt. Ltd. to construct a
3D Printed Site Office at RBD Unit which shall be used for project monitoring of the
ASWSWCs. The '3D Printed Site Office project', a Technology Demonstrator, at GRSE
was inaugurated by the Defence Secretary. Thus project was designed and executed in
10 days using off-site construction methodology by printing the modules offsite.
Speaking at the Twin Keel laying Ceremony, Commodore P R Hari, IN
(Retd), Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE mentioned, "The first ship of the
series of 8 Shallow Water Crafts was launched just 10 days back and Keels of 5 more
are being laid including these two. We are indeed on the right track and we are very
confident that we will meet the expectation of our most valued customer - The Indian
Navy. The Rajabagan Dockyard was a facility that GRSE took over and today it is a
full-fledged ship building unit capable of end to end ship construction for medium
and small sized warships. GRSE symbolises Aatmanirbharta in warship building. The
Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft Project highlights the ship building &
design prowess of the Indian Shipyards, as so far such ships capable of ASW
Operations in Shallow Water were being imported and it is the first time that ships
of such kind are being built within the country and it is to the credit of the
entire warship building fraternity that GRSE was awarded Raksha Mantri’s Trophy for
the best design this year for this particular project".
In his address, Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane stated that "A
ship meets all the facilities required to make a human community live and work and
contribute to the nation which means that the economy itself is represented in a
ship. Ship building contributes to the growth of several sectors including
infrastructure, manufacturing, services, electronics & software. So when we acquire
the skill set over a period of time, it enables the country to acquire several
related skill sets. I am very happy that GRSE has received several accolades by
achieving several distinctions in these activities. Aatmanirbharta in the defence
sector is a must. I am very happy that there is very good collaboration between
GRSE, Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard. We should continue to design and develop
in the country. I am happy to note that GRSE has contributed in a major way with 108
warships deliveries. I congratulate the employees of GRSE for the excellent
performance."
Once built, these ships will be capable of full-scale sub-surface
surveillance of coastal waters as well as Search and Attack. These ships will have
Combat Management Systems on board and will be armed with lightweight torpedoes as
well as anti-submarine warfare rockets. These waterjet propelled ships will have
greater manoeuvrability and a maximum speed of 25 Knots. The greatest advantage is
that these vessels will require a draft of only 2.7-metres, allowing them to access
the coasts easily in search of sub-surface threats.
This morning, DIG Shajen Kurian, TM, PD (MAT), accepted the delivery of
ICGS Kamla Devi, the last in the series of five FPVs built by GRSE for Indian Coast
Guard. GRSE has proven expertise in design & construction of patrol vessels having
delivered over 40 such ships to the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard since 1960.
The entire design of these latest FPVs have been developed in-house by GRSE as per
requirements specified by the Coast Guard.
These ships are 48.9-meters-long and 7.5-meters-wide with a displacement
of around 308 Tons and are designed for a maximum speed of 34 knots with an
endurance of more than 1500 nautical miles. These ships are equipped with three Main
Engines with advanced control systems, Water Jet units and an ‘Integrated Bridge
System’ integrating all Communication and Navigation Systems. These ships are also
fitted with 40/60 Gun as main armament and also have improved habitability features
with fully air-conditioned modular accommodation for 35 personnel. These ships are
used for anti-smuggling, anti-poaching and rescue operations at sea.
GRSE is the only shipyard in the country to have delivered 108 warships
till date and at the moment, the shipyard is constructing 23 ships including 15
warships of three different projects for the Indian Navy.