samlove
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India’s state-owned shipyard, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), has laid down the final landing craft utility (LCU) Mk IV vessel on order for the Indian Navy, the company confirmed to IHS Jane’s on 4 September.
A keel-laying ceremony for the 62 m vessel was held on 31 August at the company’s Kolkata shipyard. “This last ship in the contract will be delivered to the Indian Navy by 2016 and all work is currently on schedule for all ships,” a GRSE public relations officer told IHS Jane’s .
GRSE signed an INR21 billion (USD317 million) contract with the Indian Navy in September 2011 to supply eight amphibious landing craft to transport vehicles and personnel for the Indian Army. The LCU has lift capacity for up to 216 personnel, including 160 fully equipped soldiers and 56 crew.
The first-of-class was launched in March 2014.
“The ship can be deployed for maritime roles such as maritime security, beaching and unbeaching operations, humanitarian relief operations and evacuation from distant islands, [and] search-and-rescue operations, besides peacekeeping missions,” said a statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence marking the launch of the fourth LCU in March.
According to IHS Jane’s Fighting Ships , the 830-tonne platform carries two 30 mm CRN-91 guns and is fitted with a Bharat Electronics-built EON-51 electro-optic director. The vessel is powered by two MTU 1,840 kW marine diesel engines with a twin fixed-pitch propeller propulsion system and has a maximum speed of 15 kt and a range of 1,500 n miles.
