INS Nipun, the Navy’s second indigenously built Nistar-class diving support vessel, has been commissioned in the Naval Dockyard at Mumbai. The specialised vessel is expected to bolster the Navy’s capabilities in deep-sea diving, submarine rescue, salvage and underwater intervention. Built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), INS Nipun is intended to support naval divers during difficult deep-sea dives and also to act as a mother ship for a Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle (DSRV) or remotely operated vehicles deployed for locating and rescuing a disabled submarine’s crew.
It is the sister ship of the first vessel of the class, INS Nistar, which is already functioning in the Eastern Naval Command. By inducting a ship each on either the Indian Ocean seaboard and the Bay of Bengal, it will enable the Indian Navy to respond with a faster specialised underwater-support capacity across both sectors, and it is a major landmark development for the indigenous shipbuilding sector, as only a small number of navies in the world possess the deep-sea diving and submarine rescue capability available in these platforms. By inducting a ship for the Indian Navy, the capability for assisting partners during any underwater disaster or maritime calamity becomes higher.
