A glorious era will come to an end on June 3, when two naval ships INS Nishank and INS Akshay are decommissioned at a solemn ceremony at Naval Dockyard in south Mumbai.
Making an announcement to this effect, the Western Naval Command (WNC) tweeted on Tuesday: “#INSNishank (K43) part of the 22 Missile Vessel Sqn & #INSAkshay (P35) part of the 23 Patrol Vessel Sqn, both under the operational control of Flag Officer Commanding, Maharashtra Naval Area, will be decommissioned on #03June 2022 after 32 years of glorious service to the nation”.
A defence spokesperson said here that INS Nishank and INS Akshay were constructed and commissioned at Poti Shipyard in present-day Georgia. “They have been in active naval service for more than 32 years and participated in a number of naval operations including Op Talwar during the Kargil War and Op Parakram that was launched consequent to the Parliament attack in 2001,” he said. INS Nishank was commissioned into the Indian Navy on September 12, 1989.It is a Veer class corvette ship of a length of 56 meter (184 ft), 10.5 meter (34 ft) beam and 2.5 meter (8.2 ft) draught. It could notch up a speed of 32 knots (59 km/h). It had a displacement capacity of 455 tons (full load). Commissioned into the Indian Navy on December 10, 1990, INS Akshay is Abhay class corvette ship. The 56 meter (183.7 ft) long ship with 10.2 meter (33 ft) beam and 3.3 meter ( 11 ft) draft, had a displacement capacity of 485 tonnes (full load). Propelled by two diesel motors with 16,184 hp and 2 shafts, the ship could travel at a speed of 28 knots (52 km/h).