Fast attack warship commissioned

Fast attack indigenous warship Batti Malv was commissioned by the Commander-in-Chief of Andaman and Nicobar unified command Vice Admiral Arun Kumar Singh on Monday.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Vice Admiral said Batti Malv was an 'extremely valuable asset' in the discharge of the role of the unified command structure for maintaining the safety, security and well being of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

"The fact that we are able today to commission a state-of-the-art warship like Batti Malv with indigenous construction, power generation package, weapons and sensors bear eloquent testimony to our nation's technological prowess and the skill of its workforce," he said.

The Rs 64 crore warship is named after one of the islands in the archipelago and took 26 months to be constructed.

It is the third of the series of Bangaram-class high-speed warships and with its 46 metre height was a cost effective platform for patrol and rescue operations at sea with combat capabilities with matching fire power, Rear Admiral (retd)

T S Ganeshan, chairman and managing director of Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Shipyard Ltd, Kolkata, which constructed it, said.

The warship's twin engine can achieve a speed of 28 knots, he said.

The Navy has placed orders for ten more fast attack crafts of 35 knots speed with water jets and their construction will start at GRSE, the biggest defence shipyard in the country, by October. The fourth ship INS Baratang was delivered to the Navy on July 28 and would be commissioned next month, he said.

Vice-Admiral Arun Kumar, describing the event as historic, said the naval planners had shown great foresight in supporting an indigenous warship construction programme for over three decades. The move was not only a necessary step towards self reliance, but also led to consequential saving of precious foreign exchange, he added.