VISAKHAPATNAM : After successful completion of retrofitting over a period of nine years, Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) Friday handed over the submarine INS Sindhukirti to the Indian Navy here. The sea trial of INS Sindhukirti, the seventh Sindhughosh class diesel electric submarine of the Navy, was conducted last month.
Shortly, the 3,000-tonne submarine will undergo final full-power trials following which it would be re-inducted into the Navy. The Russian-made vessel will be a shot in the arm for the Navy which is facing a shortage in its underwater fleet.
Commissioned in January 1990, the retrofitting of INS Sindhukirti began in 2006 and was scheduled to be completed in three years. The cost of the project is estimated between `700 and 800 crore. HSL chairman and managing director Rear Admiral NK Mishra termed the retrofitting as a complex process which is more difficult than building a new submarine.
“The vessel was refitted by our workforce in adherence to stringent quality standards stipulated by the Indian Navy,” he said. This is the first time that a submarine of this nature has been refitted in India.
“Submarine repairs are 10 times more complicated than ship repairs and require a lot of specialised knowledge. We have involved retired Naval submariners and Naval sailors, who are familiar with the functioning of submarines inside out. Around 150 of our workforce gained hands-on experience in the repair of submarines,” he told mediapersons. The HSL workforce undertook this task with the help of Russian experts.
Mishra said that he was optimistic that the Navy would place another order for a second refit by the HSL. “This was the biggest-ever repair of a submarine undertaken in any shipyard in the country proving our capability to take up orders to construct Gen-N greenfield submarines,” he added.