Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd achieved a rare feat by laying the keels of three vessels together
Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd achieved a rare feat by laying the keels of three vessels together. While Yard 3028 is the fourth and last in the series of Sandhayak Class Survey Vessel (Large), Yards 3030 and 3031 are the third and fourth in a series of eight Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Shallow Water Craft being built by GRSE for the Indian Navy. Vice Admiral S N Ghormade, Vice Chief of Naval Staff, PVSM, AVSM, NM, ADC was the chief guest at the occasion.
The keel of a ship runs from its stem to stern and is considered the vessel’s spine. It is only after the keel is laid, that work on a ship starts and her hull takes shape. In olden days, a strong timber beam would be placed on the blocks on which the ship was to be built. As work progressed, parts of the hull would be attached to this beam or keel and the ship would take place. Modern day shipbuilding involves lowering of the entire keel block to which other sections are joined to integrate the ship.
The laying of three keels together portrays GRSE’s capability to work on ships of different classes concurrently. A Survey Vessel (Large), two of which have already been launched by GRSE, is used by the Indian Navy for hydrographic survey and charting of the ocean floor. Such ships are also used to study the entry point to harbours and allow naval vessels adequate clearance during their approach. The ASW Shallow Water Crafts on the other hand are potent Anti-Submarine platforms bustling with weapons, Sonar and Sensors to detect and neutralize any underwater threat in Indian territory. The vessels of both the projects are being built to IRS Class Rules.
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