Navy commissions INS Mangrol, third Mahe-class anti-submarine shallow water craft, in Mumbai

The Indian Navy commissioned INS Mangrol, the third ship in its Mahe class of anti-submarine warfare shallow water craft, at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on Monday. Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, presided over the ceremony.

Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kochi designed and built the vessel. The Navy says more than 80 per cent of its content is sourced within India, and presents it as an example of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Make in India programmes, with smaller domestic suppliers contributing parts and systems.

Built for shallow waters

Craft of this class are meant to find and track submarines close to the coast, where bigger warships have less room to work. INS Mangrol is driven by three diesel engines powering waterjets, which allow it to turn quickly and respond fast in shallow water.

Reports on the commissioning say the ship carries the Abhay hull-mounted sonar, lightweight torpedoes, an indigenous anti-submarine rocket launcher and the Maareech advanced torpedo decoy system. Its other roles include underwater surveillance, low-intensity maritime operations and mine warfare-related tasks. It can also operate alongside maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and other warships.

At the ceremony, Vice Admiral Vatsayan said indigenously built warships are important to the Navy's maritime surveillance and anti-submarine capability.

Officers from the armed forces, Ministry of Defence officials, representatives of Cochin Shipyard and industry partners attended the commissioning. The commissioning formally brings the vessel into the Navy's fleet.

A name with history

The ship takes its name from Mangrol, a coastal town and fishing harbour in Gujarat's Junagadh district. An earlier INS Mangrol, a minesweeper, served the Navy until April 2004.

Why it matters

India has a long coastline and many busy ports, and submarines are hard to detect in shallow waters near the shore. Each new coastal craft adds to the Navy's ability to watch these approaches. Each one built at home also keeps work and skills at Indian shipyards and their suppliers.