Kolkata, June 11 (IANS) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, on Wednesday, signed a contract for the construction of two Coastal Research Vessels (CRVs) for the Geological Survey of India (GSI).

The contract for the two Coastal Research Vessels (CRVs) was signed by Shantanu Bose, Director (Shipbuilding), GRSE and Dr N M Shareef, Deputy Director General and HoD, Marine and Coastal Survey Division, GSI, in the presence of Asit Saha, Director General, GSI, and other senior officials from GRSE and GSI.

The signing of this contract highlights GRSE’s expertise in the field of research platforms. The shipyard is currently building an Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, and an Acoustic Research Ship (ARS) for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), an establishment under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

Each CRV will have a length of 64 meters with a width of 12 meters. The deadweight tonnage of each CRV will be about 450 Tons. The vessels will have an endurance of 15 days with a top speed of 10 knots. Each ship will have facilities for 35 personnel on board.

These specialised vessels will have capabilities to carry out offshore geological mapping, mineral exploration (including dredging), ocean environment monitoring and research. The ships will have modern, well-equipped scientific laboratories on board for data processing and sample analysis.

These platforms will be fitted with Dynamic Positioning – 1 to enable them to maintain position even in Sea State 3. Powered by diesel-electric propulsion, with diesel generators driving the thrusters, these ships would operate within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India, in depths of 5-1,000 meters.

Though GRSE’s mainstay is warship building, the shipyard is also an expert in the construction of research vessels. In 1994, it delivered the marine acoustic research ship INS Sagardhwani to NPOL. Between 1981 and 1993, GRSE also delivered six survey vessels to the Navy. Over the last two years, the shipyard also delivered two Survey Vessels (Large) of the Sandhayak class to the Navy. Two more ships of this class are currently under construction at GRSE. These survey vessels are the largest and the most advanced of their class ever built in India.

At the moment, the shipyard is building 16 warships of four different classes for the Navy. GRSE has also emerged as the lowest bidder for the Navy’s Next Generation Corvettes (NGC) programme and expects to be awarded the contract to build five of these vessels.

GRSE is also building eight multi-purpose cargo vessels for a German company.

–IANS

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