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Kolkata, Oct 15 (IANS) The foundation stone of an Advanced Acoustic Research Ship (ARS) being built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), a unit of the Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO), was laid in Kolkata on Wednesday in the presence of DRDO Chairman Sameer V. Kamat.
The contract for advanced ARS was signed between GRSE and NPOL in October 2024. With an overall length of 93 meters and width of 18 metres, ARS will be a very advanced platform with state-of-the-art research instruments.
ARS will be capable of providing speeds ranging from 4 knots to 12 knots. At top speed, the ship will be able to last 30 days or 4,500 nautical miles in a single mission. It will have a complement of 120 personnel.
Capabilities of the ARS will include deployment, towing and retrieval of various instruments such as acoustic modules, conducting temporal and/or spatial high-resolution surveys of sound velocity profiles, and collection of marine tide/current information used for survey optimization, design of underwater moorings, and offshore deployment.
The research vessel will also conduct meteorological surveys to understand the influence of atmospheric parameters in sound propagation studies and acoustic echo studies in shallow water.
It will also be capable of launching, mooring and maintaining standalone buoys and collecting data from them. Its wide speed range will allow the ship to operate at multiple speed regimes to complete acoustic system tests while maintaining silence.
The ARS will also have a dynamic positioning system that will allow it to remain intact until Sea State 4. The ship will have diesel-electric propulsion, and three (3) deck cranes will be installed on board to handle research equipment.
GRSE has the necessary experience in building research and survey vessels. It provided the first series of Sandhyak class survey ships to the Navy in the 80s and 90s.
In 1994, GRSE handed over INS Sagardhwani to NPOL. It is a marine acoustic research ship that is still in service and has recently returned to GRSE for a major refit and upgrade.
Between 2023 and now, the GRSE also delivers INS Sandhayak, INS Dirhak and INS Ikshak to the Navy. These are three ships of the second series of four Sandhayak class survey ships (large) being built by the shipyard.
On July 16, 2024, GRSE also signed a contract with the National Center for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, for the construction of an Advanced Ocean Research Vessel (ORV). The shipyard is also building two coastal research vessels for the Geological Survey of India.
Congratulating GRSE on achieving the second milestone for ARS within six to seven months, the DRDO chief said: “NPOL has been operating the GRSE-built Sagar Sound since 1994, and over the last 31 years, the ship has served brilliantly. Therefore, it is very important that we build this new ship with capabilities that are far beyond those available in Sagar Sound. I am sure that GRSE will be up to the challenge. Will land and deliver the ship within range. Deadline.”
Commodore PR Hari, IN (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director, GRSE, paid tribute to Late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on his 94th birth anniversary and spoke on the efforts being made by the shipyard to build all types of modern ships.
“Apart from core warship construction, we are also contributing to research and development, particularly focusing on building new products, especially in the area of autonomous platforms, green energy ships and portable steel bridges. Moreover, we are currently the only shipyard in the country building research ships – hydrographic survey ships for the Indian Navy, acoustic research ships for DRDO, acoustic research ships for the Ministry of Earth Sciences, ocean research ships for the Geological Survey of India, and coastal research ships for the Geological Survey of India,” he said.
–IANS
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