On July 16, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), India’s state-run defense shipbuilder, signed a contract for the construction of Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) with the National Centre for Polar and Oceanic Research (NCPOR), Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, in an order valued at Rs. 8.4 billion (approx. $100 million).
This ORV has an overall length of 89.50 meters, a beam of 18.80 meters, a depth of 12.50 meters with a gross tonnage of 5,900 and a maximum speed of up to 14 knots, and it is capable of operating in water depths of up to 6,000 meters.
GRSE is known to be under the Indian Ministry of Defense and is known for building ships and offshore vessels. According to the official website, GRSE dates back to 1884 and now has modern shipbuilding infrastructure, VR labs and other shipbuilding facilities with an annual capacity of 20 vessels. As of March 31, 2023, the shipyard has delivered 108 naval vessels.
Currently, the Ocean Acoustic Research Vessel INS Sagardhwani, built and delivered by GRSE in 1994, is undergoing repair and refurbishment at the shipyard.
On December 4, 2023, GRSE successfully delivered India’s largest domestically built survey vessel to date, the INS Sandhayak. The first of four Indian-made research vessels, with three others in various stages of construction, the 110-meter-long, 3,400-ton vessel has a speed of 18 knots.
In addition to the business vessels, GRSE announced last month that it has signed a contract with German shipping company Carsten Rehder Schiffsmakler for the construction of 4+4 7,500 dwt multi-purpose vessels (MPPs), with an order value of $54 million. The MPP has an overall length of 120 meters, a beam of 17 meters and a maximum draft of 6.75 meters. It can be used to transport bulk, general and project cargoes including large wind turbine blades.