Anti-sub vessel INS Kavaratti set for launch next week

Kolkata: Kavaratti, the last of the four anti-submarine warfare class stealth corvettes being built for India under Project 28, will be launched here next week.

Designed by the Directorate of Naval Design and built by Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers, the contract for the construction of four P28 ships was signed in June, 2012, with the project priced at Rs 7,800 crore.

The corvette, with a displacement of 3,300 tonnes, has a length of 109.1 metres and measures 13.7-m at beam.

The ship is propelled by four diesel engines to achieve speeds in excess of 25 knots and has an endurance of more than 3,400 nautical miles.

Defence sources said that about 90 per cent of Kavaratti is indigenous and the ship is "well equipped" to fight in nuclear, chemical and biological warfare conditions.

INS Kamorta, the first ship under this project, was commissioned by the Navy last year.

Kadmatt and Kiltan are scheduled for delivery between 2015-2017.

Launching of a ship means transferring the vessel to water.