India’s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) launched a new offshore patrol vessel (OPV) ordered by the Indian Navy at its Kolkata facilities on Saturday, October 10.
The future INS Shreyas the third unit in a new class of ships being built under the navy’s next-generation offshore patrol vessel (NGOPV). Class lead ship INS Sanghmitra was launched on May 20 of this year followed by INS Shruti on August 11.
The 11-ship NGOPV programme was contracted by the Indian Ministry of Defence (MOD) in March 2023. Goa Shipyard (GSL) is building seven of the vessels and GRSE is responsible for the remaining four.
GSL launched INS Shachi, the first ship in the overall programme, on March 31.
The MOD had scheduled deliveries under the NGOPV programme to commence from September 2026.
GRSE said the NGOPVs are bigger than the Indian Navy's existing OPVs, can remain at sea longer, have greater firepower, and offer greater flexibility in operations.
Each NGOPV to be built by GRSE will have an LOA of approximately 113 metres, a moulded beam of 14.6 metres, a displacement of about 3,000 tonnes, a design speed of 23 knots, and a range of 8,500 nautical miles at 14 knots.
The ships’ missions will include coastal defence, protection of offshore assets, maritime interdiction, surveillance, convoy escort, anti-piracy patrols, mine warfare, special operation support, and search and rescue.
