Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) has launched the second of seven indigenously designed Nilgiri (Project 17A [P17A])-class guided-missile frigates on order for the Indian Navy (IN).
Himgiri, the first P17A frigate to be built by GRSE, is pictured at its launch ceremony on 14 December. (GRSE)
Himgiri (F 41) entered the water for the first time during a ceremony at GRSE’s yard in Kolkata on 14 December. It is the first of three ships in the class being built by GRSE; the first four are being built at Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDSL) in Mumbai.
The two shipyards are building the P17A frigates under contracts awarded by the Indian Navy in February 2015. Under the contract terms, the MDSL ships are to be delivered in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and GRSE ships are to be delivered in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
Speaking at Himgiri’s launch event, chairman and managing director of GRSE, Rear Admiral (ret) VK Saxena, said that despite the “unprecedented challenges and constraints” caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the ship was launched two months ahead of schedule. The project is the biggest project undertaken by GRSE in terms of its value, size, and complexity, he added.
Fincantieri is under contract to provide technical know-how on modular construction techniques for the P17A programme in a bid to reduce build times. Other measures adopted by GRSE to increase production efficiencies include the extensive outsourcing of hull block production to smaller shipyards and metal fabrication shops in and around Kolkata, and the construction of additional in-house infrastructure at its Rajabagan unit to speed up hull block production. Similar measures have been adopted by MDSL.
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