Article Posted on : - Oct 07, 2015

A file photo.

VISAKHAPATNAM (PTI): The Indian Navy commissioned the first indigenously-designed and built torpedo launch and recovery vessel INS Astradharini here on Tuesday.

Flag Officer Commanding-in-chief, Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Satish Soni commissioned the ship at an impressive ceremony held at the Naval Base Visakhapatnam.

During his address at the event, Soni congratulated the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) here for their contribution towards the ship building and the trials.

"The induction of INS Ashtradharini adds thrust to the country's ongoing endeavours at indigenisation and achieving India's goal of self-reliance in under-water weapons development," he added.

Soni later unveiled the commissioning plaque and dedicated the ship to the nation.

The design of the Astradharini is a collaborative effort of NSTL, M/s Shoft Shipyard and IIT Kharagpur and has a unique design of a catamaran hull form that significantly reduces its power requirement and is built with indigenous steel.

Having a length of 50 m, the vessel is capable to do speeds up to 15 Knots. It can operate at high sea states and has a large deck area with torpedo launchers for deploying and recovering various kind of torpedoes during the trials.

The ship also has modern power generation, distribution, navigation and communication systems. The unique hull form of the ship demonstrates the country's ship design and shipbuilding capabilities.

INS Astradharini will be used for carrying out the technical trials of underwater weapons and systems developed by NSTL, a naval systems laboratory of DRDO. It is an advanced replacement for Astravahini, which was decommissioned on July 17 this year.

The ship has a complement of 02 officers and 27 sailors.

Astradharini can accommodate 13 DRDO scientists and has the capacity to undertake multiple trials during a single sortie.