Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Indian Navy on Tuesday received the delivery of ‘Malwan’, the second anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft, built by Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi. On the same day, the Navy also launched a next-generation offshore patrol vessel built at Goa Shipyard.INS Malwan draws its name from the coastal town of Malwan in Maharashtra, a region intrinsically linked to the illustrious maritime heritage of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and also encapsulates the legacy of the erstwhile INS Malwan, an Indian naval minesweeper which remained in service till 2003, thereby continuing the naval tradition of preserving distinguished warship names.The ship — 80 metres in length and displacing 1,100 tonnes —is equipped for underwater surveillance, anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations in coastal waters, low-intensity maritime operations and mine warfare capabilities.The first of 11 next-generation offshore patrol vessels (NOPVs), Shachi (Yard 1280), was launched at Goa Shipyard Ltd. The ship will augment existing 10 OPVs/ NOPVs for multi-domain operations, such as defence & surveillance, search and rescue, protection of offshore assets, HADR and anti-piracy missions.
