The Indian Navy launched its new survey vessel (large) – Sandhayak in Kolkata on 5th Dec 2021.
The ship made its first contact with the Hooghly River water at the launch ceremony which was attended by the Union Minister of State in the Ministry of Defence Ajay Bhatt.
As a custom of the Indian Navy, his wife, Pushpa Bhatt, launched the ship to the chanting of verses from the Atharva Veda.
The ship will be handed over to the Indian Navy in 2022.
A vessel’s launch involves its transfer to the water for the first time.
Sandhayak is first amongst the four survey vessels being built by GRSE (Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited). It weighs 3,300 tonnes and is 110m long.
Around 80% of the ship is indigenously made, in line with the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Abhiyaan.
Sandhayak has been fitted with the following technologies:
Hydrographic equipment
a. Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUVs) like underwater drones.
b. Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs)
Survey boats
Data acquisition vehicle to collect and analyze oceanographic and geophysical (relating to the
physics of the Earth) data in the Indian Ocean Region.
Why was Sandhayak name chosen?
INS Sandhayak, Indian Navy’s oldest hydrographic vessel was decommissioned at the Naval Dockyards in Visakhapatnam in June 2021, after serving India for 40 years.
The new survey vessel has been named after this predecessor to mark its service to India.
Survey vessels are research vessels used for mapping the entire depth (deepest point to the surface) of the water body to map the following parameters:
Hydrography: Survey of the physical features of the water body.
Marine habitat: Survey of the habitats that support marine life.
Marine Archaeology: Survey of human interaction with the water bodies e.g., submerged ships, cargoes, human remains, submerged landscape, etc.
Dredging: Excavation of material from the water body for various purposes like navigation, building of dams & bridges, proper drainage of water, etc.