INS Sindhukirti undocked at Vizag yard after refit

[Agent_47]

In a major boost for both, the Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine - INS Sindhukirti, which has been undergoing a medium refit at HSL, was undocked at the yard.

Official sources at HSL said more than 90% of the work has been completed on the seventh submarine of the Sindhughosh-class, INS Sindhukirti.

The undocking of the submarine comes as a major fillip to the Indian Navy and HSL as both have suffered major losses due to havoc caused by Cyclone Hudhud.

Senior HSL officials also pointed out that this was also the first major project of national interest to be completed after Cyclone Hudhud made landfall in the Port City on October 12.
According to senior HSL officials, the submarine is expected to be handed over to the Indian Navy in the next five months after it undertakes trials at sea in the coming days.

The medium refit, which is estimated to have cost around Rs 800-900 crore, took nearly seven years for the submarine to be undocked at the shipyard.

This is a major industrial achievement for Vizag in the aftermath of the cyclone.

Having taken necessary precautions to safeguard key equipment at the shipyard prior to the cyclone, generators have been installed and the cranes have been left loose so that they would not be damaged.

According to HSL sources, even though the roof of the yard, where the medium refit was taking place, had been damaged, HSL got back to work the day after the cyclone to ensure that the undocking takes place as per the deadline.

Sources said that considering the damage caused by Hudhud, it was quite surprising that HSL could complete the work only four days after the deadline.

While HSL had received flak from various quarters for taking seven years to complete the medium refit, the delay was not due to HSL.

The work undertaken by HSL, is almost 300% more than what was initially specified in the contract.

A medium refit at Russia involves replacement of three hull plates, with each of them taking 3-4 months, but HSL replaced 39 hull plates in a record time.

The task was complex and HSL decided on the undocking date about a year ago.

This project has seen replacement of a large piping system.

About 85 km long cables and 65 km long piping systems were replaced.

All these are automated system and trials need to start now for interfacing the systems.

Russian experts ordered needless work on Kilo Sub INS Sindhukirti

Replaced 39 hull plates in a record time - INS Sindhukirti undocked at Vizag yard after refit | The Economic Times