Karwar: Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, commissioned INS Makar, a hydrographic survey vessel, at Seabird Naval Base in Karwar on Friday.

Mr Sinha informed that the ship was built with indigenous technology. He regarded it as a milestone in the way of the country achieving self-reliance in ship building. Dedication of INS Makar would enhance the strength of Indian Navy. Six ships of the same kind would be added to the navy, he stated.

The vessel, with a catamaran hull form, was built by Gujarat government-owned company Alcock Ashdown Limited. The ship’s keel was laid on April 24, 2008 and she was launched on February 3, 2010 at Bhavanagar.

INS Makar (Capricorn) marked a new chapter in the annals of hydrography in India, said naval officers.

The primary role of the ship was to undertake hydrographic surveys to improve maritime safety. She is equipped with an array of modern surveying equipment and can undertake limited oceanographic surveys towards providing marine environmental data.

The ship was propelled by four engines and two-bow thrusters. The ship has tow survey motor boats.

The entire propulsion, navigational and power management packages of the vessel were integrated in a single state-of-the-art system called Integrated Platform Management System, the naval officers said.

The equipment for hydrographic survey included autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for closer investigations, advanced electronic positioning system, multi-beam swath sounding system and sub-bottom profiler.

The ship was provided with a caravan which houses air-conditioned data processing facilities. The ship can accommodate six officers and 44 sailors.



Speaking to reporters on the occasion about the second phase work of the naval base, Mr. Shekar said that the process of calling tenders for selecting a consultancy for the second phase work of Kadamba Naval Base was under way.

-The proposal of the second phase work of the naval base is in front of the Union Cabinet. The works would commence after the approval. The naval base would get more facilities after completion of the second phase works and it would be the Asia’s biggest naval base-, said Mr Sinha.

-There is need for taking up study of certain technical factors before constructing runway in the naval base. Runways in all naval bases in the country are provided for civic use also-, he responded to a query.

-Giving compensation to the Seabird Project evacuees is the responsibility of the State government. The Defense Ministry would provide compensation amount to the State. Regarding distribution of compensation, the State government has to take steps-, he stated.

Karnataka Navy Zone Chief Atulkumar Jain in this introductory speech said, around 40 ships would be operated from the Kadamba Naval Base after completion of second phase works.

Retired vice-admiral B R Rao, Dilip Deshpande, Navy senior officer S K Jha, Deputy Commissioner Imkanglo Zamir, SP K T Balkrishna, Additional DC Vijaymahantesh, CMC Commissioner Udaykumar Shetty and others were present on the occassion.