Sea trials of ocean surveillance ship evoke good response

HSL readies to hand over vessel to Navy for missile tracking

The sea trials of India’s first and most prestigious missile tracking ocean surveillance ship built at the Ministry of Defence-owned Hindustan Shipyard Limited have received an encouraging response, highly reliable sources said.

Sources told The Hindu that after successful harbour trials, HSL is now conducting a series of sea trials to prove the ship’s resilience for any type of situation. It will be handed over to the Ministry of Defence shortly, the sources said, declining to specify a timeline.

The ship, being built under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister’s Office and the National Security Adviser, is being referred to as yard number VC 11184.

“It will get a formal name to be chosen by the Navy once it is inducted into the naval fleet,” an HSL official said.

Confidential project

The ship, a highly confidential project, was taken out of the covered dock for harbour trials during the weekend. The hull for the ship, which will provide a shot in the arm to the strategic weapons programme including Indian Ballistic Missile Development Programme, was laid on June 30, 2014. The ship was built at an estimated cost of over $231 million.

It has a displacement capacity of over 10,000 tonnes with carrying capacity for a complement of 300 crew members and a helicopter. It has a primary X-band and two secondary S-band scanned array and missile tracking antennas.

Turnaround

HSL, set up in 1941, has achieved a turnaround. The yard is all set to record a net profit for four year in a row.

It is now in the process of finding out a consultant for construction of five Fleet Support Ships at a cost of ₹9,500 crore. Meanwhile, it has also started the process of designing two Diving Support Vessels for submarine support. The project will cost ₹2,050 crore.

Visakhapatnam is the headquarters of the submarine arm of the Navy, Marine Commandos. A Naval Alternate Operational Base is under development at Rambilli near here to dock Arihant-class nuclear-powered submarines being built at the Ship Building Centre, also located in the city.