VISAKHAPATNAM: INS Sandhayak, the first of its class indigenously designed and built hydrographic survey ship of Indian Navy, will be decommissioned on Friday. The decommissioning ceremony will be held at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam. It will be a low-key event attended only by in-station officers and sailors with strict observance of Covid protocols.
Sandhayak was conceptualised by then Chief Hydrographer to the Indian government, Rear Admial FL Fraser, who had a strong desire for indigenously design and build hydrographic survey vessels in India. The design was finalised by naval headquarters and the construction of the ship began at GRSE Kolkata (then Calcutta) by laying the keel in 1978.
The ship was commissioned to the Indian Navy on February 26, 1981 by Vice Admiral MK Roy, the then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command (ENC). The success of her design paved way for all the Survey ships of the Indian Navy in various modifications till recently.
The ship, during her service, has undertaken approximately 200 major hydrographic surveys and numerous minor surveys in both East and West coasts of the country, the Andaman seas and the neighbouring countries too. Apart from survey missions, the ship has been an active participant in many significant operations such as Op Pawan – assisting the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1987, Op Sarong, Op Rainbow - rendering humanitarian assistance post tsunami of 2004.