Indian Navy proudly launched its second NGOPV a few days ago at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), a government-owned defence dockyard located on the west bank of the Hooghly River in Kolkata, India. This dockyard, owned by the Indian Ministry of Defence, builds Navy ships, commercial vessels and engineering equipment. The dockyard was founded in 1884 by the British as a small river port workshop and was nationalised by the Indian government in 1960. It now produces warships, commercial ships and portable bridge systems and has the unique achievement of being the first Indian dockyard to build 100 warships for the military.
Sri Lanka Navy’s SLNS Sagara (ex-Indian Coast Guard Ship Varaha) was leased to the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) in 2005 to build our offshore patrol capability. It later underwent a major refit at GRSE, Kolkata, in 2010/11 and was permanently handed over to the SLN in 2015.
GRSE is well known for its quality shipbuilding capabilities, particularly in medium-sized warships, as is Goa Shipyard Ltd, Goa, another government-owned shipbuilder in Goa on the west coast of India.
The new NGOPV launched at GRSE was named Indian Navy Ship Shruti, and the ship was launched by Mrs Manika Sadhu, wife of Vice Admiral Sanjaya Sadhu, the Controller of Warship Production and Acquisition of the Indian Navy. It is a long-standing tradition for a woman to launch a ship (do you know why a ship is called “she”?).
The first ship of this class, INS Sangamitra, was launched at GRSE, Kolkata, on 20 May 2026 and named “Sangamitra”, in memory of Princess (Therani) Sangamitra, daughter of the great Emperor Ashoka, who brought a Bo sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi (the Bo tree under which Gautama Buddha attained Enlightenment) by sea to Sri Lanka and established Buddhist priesthood for Sri Lankan women (Theranis).
There are eleven Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels (NGOPVs) of this type due to join the Indian Navy, all “Made in India” and being built concurrently at two MoD-owned shipyards in Goa and Kolkata. These ships are 113 metres in length, have a displacement of approximately 3,000 tonnes and carry a helicopter onboard. They are capable of anti-piracy operations, search and rescue (SAR) at sea, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) missions.
We wish these ships the protection of Lord Varuna.
“Shano Varuna” (May the God of Oceans bless us) – the motto of the Indian Navy.
