INS Shakti en-route to Qingdao, China.
Class overview
BuildersFincantieri
Operators Indian Navy
Preceded byAditya class
Succeeded byHSL class
Planned2
Completed2
Active2
General characteristics
TypeReplenishment Fleet Tanker
Displacement27,500 tons full load
Length175 m (574 ft)
Beam25 m (82 ft)
Draught9.1 m (30 ft)
Propulsion10,000 kw diesel engine
Speed20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Range12,000 miles (19,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement248[1]
Armament4 × AK-630[2]
Aviation facilitiesFlight Deck for operating Seaking and Chetak helicopters

The Deepak class is a class of fleet replenishment tankers of the Indian Navy built by Fincantieri. Two ships were ordered and the first one joined the fleet on 21 January 2011, while the second joined on 1 October 2011.[3]

History

INS Deepak construction programme by Muggiano Shipyard of Fincantieri, involved three different shipyards of Fincantieri, Italy, in a challenging time frame of two years. The ship is in double hull configuration which provides greater safety against accidental oil spillages in accordance with latest MARPOL regulations.

Costs and offset clause

Fincantieri announced in October 2008 that it won an order to build a fleet tanker, with an option for another, against competitive bidding from leading international players, especially from Russia and Korea. The contract, worth about 139 million euro includes a second vessel under an option clause which was signed in March 2009. According to an interview published in Defenseworld.net in May 2009, senior BEL executives stated that as part of the offsets for the first fleet tanker, Fincantieri, in 2008, placed an order worth 14.3 million euros for the supply of Composite Communication System, Versatile Communication System, ESM System, Electric Opto Fire Control System and their integration on board the fleet tanker. Bharat Electronics (BEL) will implement this order in 2009.

Ships of the class

Name Pennant Homeport Launched Commissioned
INS DeepakA50Karwar12 February 201021 January 2011[4]
INS ShaktiA57Visakhapatnam11 October 20101 October 2011[5]

On 12 February 2010, the first ship of the class INS Deepak was launched. The CAG (Comptroller and Auditor General) reported that substandard steel was chosen which helped Fincantieri to bag the contract quoting lower cost.[6] On 21 January 2011, INS Deepak was commissioned in a ceremony at the Naval Dockyard, Mumbai by the Defence Minister of India.[7]

INS Shakti is the second Deepak-class fleet tanker. It was launched on 11 October 2010 and commissioned on 1 October 2011.[4][8][9]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Bharat-Rakshak.com Fleet Tanker
  2. ↑ "Indian Navy strengthens far-reaching capability". Sify. 21 January 2011. Archived from the original on 25 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "First Fleet Tanker For Indian Navy Launched At Muggiano". 12 February 2010. Archived from the original on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  4. 1 2 INS Shakti inducted into the Indian navy
  5. ↑ Shakti for Indian Navy launched at Sestri Ponenete (Genova)
  6. ↑ CAG pokes finger at inferior steel in navy tankers
  7. ↑ 2 new fleet tankers to boost naval presence
  8. ↑ Fleet tanker INS Shakti inducted into Indian Navy
  9. ↑ "INS Shakti to be commissioned today". Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
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