Nirdeshak, SVL project launched at Kattupalli, Chennai

India has launched the second of the four survey vessels (large) (SVL) projects, Nirdeshak, for the Indian Navy. It has been built by Garden Reach Ship­­builders and Engineers (GRSE) in collaboration with Larsen and Tou­bro shipbuilding at Kattupalli, Chennai. The contract for building four SVL ships was signed between the Ministry of Defence and GRSE, Kolkata in October 2018. The first-of-class ship Sandhayak was launched in December 2021 at GRSE, Kolkata. The SVL ships will replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships with new generation hydrographic equipment to collect ocea­no­graphic data. The SVL ships have a deep displacement of about 3,400 tonnes. Further, these ships are designed to operate at a cruise speed of 14 knots and a maximum speed of 18 knots.