The Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) said that it has laid the keel for the seventh Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) as part of a contract to build eight such vessels for the Indian Navy. The keel-laying ceremony took place at CSL in the presence of Rear Admiral Upal Kundu, VSM, Chief of Staff, Southern Naval Command.
Senior naval officers, CSL officials, and representatives from the DNV Classification Society were also present. The agreement to construct eight ASW SWC ships was signed between the Ministry of Defence (MoD) and CSL in April 2019.
The Mahe-class ships will replace the in-service Abhay-class ASW Corvettes and are designed to perform anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, Low-Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), mine-laying tasks, and subsurface surveillance. Equipped with state-of-the-art, indigenously developed SONARS, these vessels have a maximum speed of 25 knots and an endurance of 1800 nautical miles.
The construction of these high-tech warships with significant indigenous content exemplifies India’s capability and commitment to ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’. Five of the eight vessels have already been launched and are in various stages of machinery and system outfitting. The keel of the sixth vessel was laid in December last year. The first ship in the series is scheduled to be delivered by March 2025.
