The Defence Ministry on Monday inked a contract worth over Rs 6,311 crore with Kolkata-based defence shipyard Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) for the construction of eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASWSWCs).

As per the contract, the first ship is to be delivered within 42 months from contract signing date and subsequent balance ships delivery schedule will be two ships per year. The project completion time is 84 months from the day of signing the deal, the ministry said here.

The Navy had issued the Request For Proposal (RFP) for design, construction and supply of the eight ASWSWCs to Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) shipyards and private shipyards in April 2014 and the GRSE emerged as the successful bidder.

The ships weighing 750 tons each can carry 57 personnel and can reach speed of 25 knots. These ships are capable of full-scale sub surface surveillance of coastal waters and coordinated anti submarine warfare operations with aircraft.  The ships can also be deployed for search and rescue by day and night in coastal areas. In their secondary role, these will be capable to prosecute intruding aircraft, and lay mines in the sea bed, officials said. 

The vessels are equipped with highly advanced state-of-the-art integrated platform management systems including Propulsion Machinery, Auxiliary Machinery, Power Generation and Distribution Machinery and Damage Control Machinery.  These warships will be built as per Classification Society Rules and Naval Ship Regulations and will conform to latest Marine Pollution Standards of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS).  The design and construction of these ships at GRSE is another significant milestone in the ‘Make in India’ initiative, they added.