Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers (GRSE) Limited, a Kolkata-based defence public sector unit (PSU), has signed a contract to build two coastal research vessels (CRVs) for the Geological Survey of India.
Each vessel will be 64 metres long and 12 metres wide with a deadweight tonnage of around 450 tonnes and a top speed of 10 knots, will support 35 personnel and sustain missions up to 15 days. Equipped with on-board scientific labs, the CRVs will conduct offshore geological mapping, mineral exploration (including dredging), and oceanic environmental monitoring.
This shipyard is already constructing an ocean research vessel for the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research and an acoustic research ship for the Defence Research Development Organisation.