India will always remain maritime nation: Vice Admiral Tripathi

Asserting that India will always remain a maritime nation, Vice Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, on Tuesday said that the prosperity and well-being of the country's people depend on the security of the seas around the nation.

He was addressing a programme at the launch of the anti-submarine warfare shallow watercraft 'Androth' built by Defence PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd for the Indian Navy. The GRSE is building eight anti-submarine warfare shallow water crafts for the force, while another eight are being made by a sister shipyard, its chairman and managing director Commodore (retd) P R Hari said.

"India was, India is and India will always remain a maritime nation. The prosperity and well-being of our people depend on the security of the seas around us," Tripathi said. The ship 'Androth' was named and launched by his wife Shashi Tripathi. Vice Admiral Tripathi said that the construction of ships such as this for anti-submarine warfare is in sync with provisioning of the combat-ready, credible, cohesive force which is ready to face current and future challenges in the maritime domain. The ASW shallow watercraft has been designed entirely by the GRSE, he said.

"I commend the GRSE for building its 108th warship, which is the highest number by any Indian shipyard," Tripathi said. Stating that the association of GRSE and the Indian Navy go a long way back, Hari said that 63 years of co-existence has seen tremendous growth for both the organisations. "We at GRSE are proud to have partnered with the Navy in its quest for attaining blue water capability and also in its transition from a buyer's navy to a builder's navy," he said.

Hari said that the GRSE has delivered 70 warships and 15 more are under various stages of construction. While seven of these under-construction ships have been launched and are undergoing fitting out of components at GRSE's fitting out jetty (FOJ) here, seven are in the fabrication stage, he said.

Hari said that the GRSE makes various types of warships from missile boats to landing crafts to corvettes, frigates and now ASW shallow watercraft and also advanced stealth frigates. He said that 'Androth' is the second of the eight ASW SWCs being built by GRSE, with the first having been launched in September, 2022. The GRSE CMD paid homage to two contract workers who died in an "unfortunate accident" during the construction of this ship.