Keel laying of sixth Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW SWC) (BY 528, Magdala) was held at Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) in the presence of Rear Admiral Satish Shenai, NM, Chief Staff Officer (Training), Southern Naval Command on 17 Dec 2024. Shri KN Sreejith, Director (Operations), Shri Rajesh Gopalakrishnan, Executive Director (Ship Repairs) Shri S Harikrishnan, Executive Director (Shipbuilding) of CSL, Cmde S Parthiban, WPS, Warship Overseeing Team (Kochi), Cmde GS Sidhu, Director Ship Production at Integrated Headquarters (Navy), New Delhi, other Senior officials of Indian Navy & CSL, representatives from the DNV Classification society, officers, supervisors and workmen of CSL were also present for the ceremony.
Contract for building eight (8) ASW SWC ships was signed between Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL), on 30 April 2019. The Mahe Class of ships will replace the in-service Abhay class ASW Corvettes of Indian Navy and are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO) and Mine Laying Operations including subsurface surveillance.
The vessels are capable of doing high speeds of 25 knots and are fitted with indigenously designed and developed, state-of-the-art SONARS, for underwater surveillance. This is fine example of Indian shipbuilding capability and prowess to manufacture high end technology intensive warships with high indigenous content under ‘Atmanirbharbharat’. Already, 05 vessels out of total 08 vessels in the project have been launched and is in various stages of machinery and system outfit. The first ship in the series is targeted to be delivered in Mar 2025.
