KOLKATA (PTI): Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd has delivered the “largest-ever” survey vessel to be built in the country - INS Sandhayak - to the Indian Navy, an official said.

INS Sandhayak, the first in a series of four survey vessels being made by GRSE for the Navy, was launched on December 5, 2021, and was undergoing fitting out and trials thereafter.

The 110-metre-long ship was delivered on December 4, which is observed as Navy Day, the GRSE official said.

The protocol of delivery and acceptance was signed between GRSE Chairman and MD, Commodore (retd) P R Hari, and commanding officer of the vessel, Commodore R M Thomas.

INS Sandhayak is the reincarnation of another ship by the same name, which was also a survey vessel. That ship had been commissioned into the Navy in 1981 and decommissioned in 2021, the official said.

Fully designed by the GRSE, the survey ships are capable of full-scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic survey of port and harbour approaches, as well as determination of navigation channels and routes, he said.

The Sandhayak-class vessels can also undertake surveys of maritime limits and collection of oceanographic and geographical data for defence applications, which add muscle to India's maritime capabilities, he said.

These ships can also carry a helicopter each, participate in low-intensity combat and function as hospital ships, apart from the capacity to be used for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief operations, the official added.