- By Soumyaroop Mukherjee
- Fri, 31 Oct 2025 03:44 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Indian Navy’s indigenous built large survey vessel, INS Ikshak, to study underwater hydrography, is set to be commissioned at Naval Base Kochi on November 6, 2025. The ceremony will be presided over by Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Chief of the Naval Staff, marking the formal induction of the vessel.
INS Ikshak is the third of the four ships under the category ‘Survey Vessel Large’ (SVL). The first ship in this class was INS Sandhayak, commissioned in February 2024. The second ship, INS Nirdeshak, was commissioned in December 2024. The Ministry of Defence had signed the contract for these ships back in October 2018. The vessel stands as a testament to the successful collaboration between GRSE and other Indian MSMEs.
INS Ikshak: Features Of The Indigenous Vessels
- Weight: 3,400 tons
- Length: 110 meters
- Speed: Cruise speed of up to 14 knots and maximum speed up to 18 knots
- Engines: Twin diesel engines
- Manufactured by: Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited, Kolkata, under the supervision of the Directorate of Ship Production and the Warship Overseeing Team.
- It can accommodate a total of 231 personnel, four survey motorboats and a helicopter.
- The ship’s name, Ikshak, meaning 'The Guide', signifying its mission of charting the unknown underwater territories.
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- Designed with dual-role capability, INS Ikshak serves as a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) platform and as a Hospital Ship during emergencies.
- Ikshak is the first SVL ship, which has dedicated living quarters for the women sailors and officers.
- The ship comes with over 80 per cent indigenous content, proudly reflecting the spirit and strength of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.
- Ikshak is fitted with state-of-the-art hydrographic equipment such as Data Acquisition and Processing System, Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, Remotely Operated Vehicle, DGPS Long range positioning systems, Digital side scan sonar, etc.