Hydrographic survey ship “INS Sandhayak” decommissioned

Why in News ?

• Indian Navy’s oldest hydrographic survey ship INS Sandhayak was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard in Visakhapatnam after serving the nation for 40 years.

About INS Sandhayak:

• INS Sandhayak was the lead ship of the Sandhayak class of survey ships.
• The ship operatedas a hydrographic survey ship in the Indian Navy, under the Eastern Naval Command.
• Purpose: The ship conducted shallow coastal and deep-sea hydrographic surveys. The ship also collected oceanographic and geophysical data.
  • In addition to conducting surveys, it also assisted as military transport and casualty-carrying vessels in times of war and natural disasters.
• Developed by:
  • The ship was conceptualised by the then Chief Hydrographer to the Government of India, Rear Adm FL Fraser.
  • The ship was developed by Garden Reach Ship Builders Limited(GRSE), Kolkata.
  • The ship was thencommissioned into the Indian Navy in 1981.
• Operations: The ship has been an active participant in many significant operations such as
  • Operation Pawan(assisting the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka in 1987) and
  • Operation Rainbow(rendering humanitarian assistance in Sri Lanka post Tsunami of 2004).
• The ship also participated in the maiden joint INDO-US HADR (humanitarian assistance and disaster relief) exercise ‘Tiger-Triumph’in 2019.