The IRS class of tugboats are a series of Bollard pull tugboats built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited, Visakhapatnam, for the Indian Navy.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders | Hindustan Shipyard Limited |
| Operators |  Indian Navy |
| Built | 3 |
| Planned | 3 + 4 |
| Completed | 4 |
| Active | 4 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | 50T bollard pull tugboat |
| Displacement | 472 tons |
| Length | 34.54 m (113 ft 4 in) |
| Beam | 11.26 m (36 ft 11 in) |
| Draught | 4.49 m (14 ft 9 in) |
| Propulsion | 2 x Wartsila Italia Spa Type W8L26 engines generating 2.4 MW power to drive Voith Schneider propulsion unit |
| Speed | 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) |
| Complement | 13 |
INS Sahas and INS Dhiraj tugs were flagged off by Commander (retd) K.S. Subramanian, the Director (shipbuilding) and INS Himmat was flagged off by Rear Admiral (Retd) N K Mishra, NM Chairman & Managing Director of HSL. The vessels were built under special survey of IRS Steel ship rules and as such were assigned with IRS class notation.[1][2] Contracts for 4 additional similar tugboats were signed between HSL and Indian Navy in November 2019. The keel of the first two tugboats Veeran and Balaram were laid on November 15, 2019. [3] The new tugboats are to be stationed at Visakhapatnam, the future home base of INS Vikrant to handle the aircraft carrier once it is commissioned into Indian Navy in 2022. [4] [5]
Specifications
editEach of these tugboats can achieve 13.5 knots (25.0 km/h; 15.5 mph) against a design speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph) at 85% maximum continuous rating. Bollard pull of all the vessels is in excess of 54 tonnes almost 10% in excess of specifications.[6][7]
Service history
editINS Himmat, INS Sahas and INS Dhiraj serve with the Western Naval Command at Karwar. These vessels are primarily meant to handle the aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya which is based in Karwar since early 2014.[8]
Boats in the class
edit| Name | Pennant No. | Date of Launch | Date of Commission | Homeport | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| INS Himmat | 11162 | 03-08-2013 | 31-03-2014 | Karwar | Active [9] |
| INS Dhiraj | 11163 | 03-08-2013 | 24-12-2013 | Karwar | Active |
| INS Sahas | 11164 | 03-08-2013 | 24-12-2013 | Karwar | Active |
| INS Veeran | 11193 | 19-03-2020 | 22-10-2021 | Visakhapatnam | Active |
| INS Balaram | 19-03-2020 | Visakhapatnam |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "HSL delivers 2 tugs to Navy".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "HSL delivers 50T BP Tug to Indian Navy".
- ^ "Keel-laying ceremony for two vessels at HSL". The Times of India. 16 November 2019.
- ^ "HSL DELIVERS 50T BP TUG TO INDIAN NAVY".
- ^ "Keels laid for 50 tonne bollard pull tugs at HSL". Archived from the original on 2 November 2021. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
- ^ "HSL delivers 50T BP Tug to Indian Navy".
- ^ "HSL delivers 2 tugs to Navy".[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Hind Shipyard delivers 2 tugs to Navy - classed with IRS".
- ^ "64_AR_2015-16.pdf" (PDF).