KOCHI: The Southern Naval Command, the Navy's Training Command, was augmented by INS Magar which arrived here on Wednesday from Vishakhapatnam on change on base port. The ship was ceremonially received and welcomed by Rear Admiral R J Nadkarni, Chief of Staff, HQSNC. The ship will join the First Training Squadron (1TS) for sea training of young officers, according to the release.
Over the next few weeks, INS Magar will undergo modifications for accommodating sea trainees, prior to commencing her training role. Thereafter, she will be used to impart training in various aspects of seamanship, navigation, ship handling, boat work, engineering and electrical departmental skills to enable cadets to get their ‘sea legs’.
The ship is being prepared to augment the Training Squadron's capacity to meet the increase in the training load of officer trainees and also to cater to the maintenance requirements of the existing ships of 1TS. 1TS presently consists of four ships - INS Tir (the largest training ship of the Indian Navy), INS Shardul, Coast Guard Ship INCGS Sarathi, and INS Sujata, besides the two sail training ships - INS Sudarshini and INS Tarangini.
INS Magar, a Landing Ship Tank (Large) of the Indian Navy built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. Kolkata, was commissioned into the Navy on July 18, 1987. The major operations undertaken by the ship include Operation Pawan by the Indian Peace Keeping Force(IPKF) in Sri Lanka.