Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE) signed a contract with the National Centre for Polar & Ocean Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, to construct and deliver an Ocean Research Vessel (ORV).
In the presence of Dr. Thamban Meloth, Director, NCPOR, and senior officials from GRSE & NCPOR, the contract was signed in Goa by Cdr. Shantanu Bose, IN (Retd), Director (Shipbuilding), GRSE, and Shri M M Subramaniam, Scientist I/C, Vessel Operation and Management, NCPOR. The order contract is worth 840 crore.
As per the company, GRSE has over four decades of experience manufacturing survey vessels for the Indian Navy. The Marine Acoustic Research Vessel INS Sagardhwani, built by GRSE in 1994, is now being refurbished at the shipyard.
On December 4, 2023, GRSE handed the INS Sandhayak, India’s biggest survey vessel, to the Navy. Three more vessels of this class are now in various stages of completion at the shipyard. This experience will serve GRSE well in developing and building the ORV for NCPOR.
The ORV will have an overall length of 89.50 meters and a width of 18.80 meters. The depth will be 12.50 meters. The ship will have a gross tonnage of 5,900 tons and a speed of 14 knots at 90% maximum continuous running (MCR). The research vessel is capable of operating at depths of up to 6,000 meters.
