It's time to bid adieu to Indian naval ship Sandhayak, the first of its kind indigenously designed and built hydrographic survey ship of the Indian Navy. After four decades of service, the ship is being decommissioned on Friday.
The ship, which has undertaken over 200 hydrographic missions, has also been an active participant in many significant operations such as Op Pawan (assisting the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1987), Op Sarong, Op Rainbow (rendering humanitarian assistance post Tsunami of 2004) and the maiden joint INDO-US HADR Exercise ‘Tiger-Triumph’.
INS Sandhayak was operating as a hydrographic survey ship in the Indian Navy, under the Eastern Naval Command. Apart from a helicopter and Bofors 40 mm gun for self defence, the ship was also equipped with four survey motor boats and two small boats. The ship could also analyse the level of pollution, sea level at various places, sea bed and marine wealth.
Sandhayak was capable of conducting shallow coastal and deep oceanic hydrographic survey and collecting oceanographic and geophysical data.
Besides carrying out their primary role of hydrographic survey, it could also assist in times of war and natural calamities as troop transports and casualty holding ships.
According to a naval officer, the decommissioning ceremony of INS Sandhayak will be held at Naval Dockyard, Vishakhapatnam and will be a low-key event attended only by in-station officers and sailors with strict observance of COVID protocols.
“Sandhayak was conceptualised by then Chief Hydrographer to the Govt. of India, Rear Adm FL Fraser, AVSM, Padma Shri who had a strong desire for indigenously designed and built hydrographic survey vessels in India. The design was finalised by Naval Headquarters and the construction of the ship began at GRSE Kolkata (then Calcutta) by laying the keel in 1978,” said a defence ministry statement.
Eventually, the ship was commissioned on February 26, 1981 by Vice Adm M.K. Roy, then Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command(ENC).
"Since commissioning, she has been the Alma-Mater nurturing the hydrographers of the Indian Navy thereby laying the foundation of complete hydrographic coverage of the peninsular waters," a senior naval officer said while adding that the success of her design paved way for all the survey ships of the Indian Navy in various modifications till recently.
In its glorious 40 years, the ship saw 22 Commanding Officers at the helm, with the last Commanding Officer taking charge of the ship on June 17, 2019.
With the sunset on Friday, the Naval Ensign and the Commissioning Pennant will be hauled down for the last time onboard INS Sandhayak, symbolising the decommissioning.
