Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) has signed a contract with the Naval Physical and Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) on October 29, 2024, for construction of an Acoustic Research Ship (ARS). NPOL is a laboratory under the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and the signing of the contract added yet another feather to GRSE’s well-adorned cap. 

The value of the contract signed between GRSE and NPOL is Rs 490.98 crore. The overall length of the ARS will be 90 metres and it will be 14 metres wide. It will be capable of speeds ranging from 4 knots to 12 knots. At top speed, the ship will have an endurance of 30 days or 4,500 nautical miles in a single mission. It will have a complement of 70 personnel.

The capabilities of the ARS will include deployment, towing and retrieval of various equipment such as acoustic modules, carrying out temporal and/or spatial high-resolution surveys of sound velocity profiles and collection of ocean tides/current information to be used for survey optimization, design of underwater moorings and offshore deployments.

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers is a shipbuilding company in India under the administrative control of the MoD and primarily adhere to the shipbuilding requirements of the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard.