GRSE Initiates Development of Acoustic Research Vessel for DRDO

Kolkata, April 16 (NationPress) Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has officially begun the construction of an Acoustic Research Ship (ARS) for the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL), which operates under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), on Wednesday.

The event's chief guest was Dr Sameer V Kamat, secretary of the Department of Defence (R&D) and chairman of DRDO. Other notable attendees included Cmde PR Hari, IN (Retd), chairman and managing director of GRSE, Dr Chandrika Kaushik, DG (PC & SI), DRDO, Dr D Seshagiri, director of NPOL, RK Dash, director (finance) of GRSE, Cdr Shantanu Bose, IN (Retd), director (shipbuilding) of GRSE, Subrato Ghosh, former DIG, ICG, director (personnel), GRSE, Abhishek Ranjan, CVO of GRSE, along with other senior officials from GRSE and DRDO.

The agreement for the ARS project was finalized between GRSE and NPOL in October 2024. This advanced platform, measuring 93 meters in length and 18 meters in width, will accommodate 120 personnel and achieve speeds ranging from 4 knots to 12 knots. When at full speed, the ship will maintain endurance for 30 days or cover 4,500 nautical miles in a single journey.

The ARS will feature capabilities for deploying, towing, and retrieving various equipment such as acoustic modules, conducting temporal and/or spatial high-resolution surveys of sound velocity profiles, and gathering ocean tides/current information to enhance survey efficiency, design underwater moorings, and support offshore deployments.

This research vessel will also engage in meteorological surveys to analyze how atmospheric conditions affect sound propagation and will perform shallow water acoustic reverberation studies. It will have the ability to launch, moor, and maintain standalone buoys while collecting data from them. Its broad speed range will enable operations across various speed levels for acoustic systems trials while ensuring minimal noise.

Equipped with a dynamic positioning system, the ARS will retain its location under Sea State 4 conditions. The vessel will feature diesel-electric propulsion and will be outfitted with three deck cranes to facilitate the handling of research equipment.

GRSE boasts extensive experience in building research and survey vessels. In the 1980s and 1990s, it delivered the first series of Sandhayak Class Survey Vessels to the Navy. The INS Sagardhwani was delivered in 1994 and continues to serve today. In 2023 and 2024, GRSE delivered the INS Sandhayak and INS Nirdeshak to the Navy, marking the first two vessels in a second series of four Sandhayak Class Survey Vessels (Large) being constructed at the shipyard.

On July 16, 2024, GRSE also finalized a contract with the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), part of the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, to build an advanced Ocean Research Vessel (ORV).

During the ceremony, Dr Kamat remarked: "An acoustic research ship is crucial for enhancing our underwater domain awareness capabilities. This vessel succeeds the Sagardhwani, which GRSE constructed and has served us admirably for over 30 years now."

Cmde Hari added: “As a fully versatile shipyard, our shipbuilding range extends from complex warships to specialized research vessels like the ARS, hybrid platforms, dredgers, ferries, and commercial ships. This is a landmark occasion as we embark on another prestigious project for our defense sector.”