INS Nirupak (J20)

INS Nirupak (J20) (Hindi: निरूपक lit. Indicator) is a Sandhayak-class hydrographic survey ship in the Indian Navy. The ship was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers and commissioned into the Indian navy at Visakhapatnam naval base in 1985 under Eastern Naval Command.

History
India
NameINS Nirupak
BuilderGarden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers
Launched4 June 1981
Commissioned14 August 1985
Identification
Statusin active service
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeSandhayak-class survey ship
Displacement1,929 long tons (1,960 t) full
Length87.8 m (288 ft 1 in)
Beam12.8 m (42 ft 0 in)
Draft3.3 m (10 ft 10 in)
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range
  • 6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
  • 14,000 nmi (26,000 km; 16,000 mi) at 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement18 officers + 160 enlisted
Armament1 × Bofors 40 mm gun
Aircraft carried1 × HAL Chetak helicopter
Aviation facilitiesHelipad

Equipment

The ship is equipped with ROV, AUV & USV. Apart from a helicopter and Bofors 40 mm gun for self defense, the ship is also equipped with four survey motor boats and two small boats. Nirupak is the second ship to have been indigenously designed and constructed, commissioned after INS Sandhayak under the Sandhayak class. As a hospital ship, Nirupak has taken part in disaster relief exercises.[2] On a goodwill mission in 2010 the ship visited Trincomalee Port.[3]

Tasks

The primary tasks of INS Nirupak include hydrographic surveys, nautical chart preparation, cartography & training. The ship also has disaster relief capabilities because it can operate as a hospital.

Operations

Nirupak was one of the first ships of the Indian Navy alongside INS Khukri to be involved in relief operations after a 2004 Tsunami where it provided relief operations under Operation Gambhir as a hospital ship to Indonesia.[4] In 2016 the ship was also involved in searching for the missing Antonov 32 of the Indian Navy that crashed over the Bay of Bengal. However, the aircraft is still missing.[5]

References
  1. "J 20 Sandhayak Class". globalsecurity.org. 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
  2. "Disaster management skills demonstrated".
  3. "US, Indian naval ships at Trinco".
  4. "Navy launches Operation Gambhir in Indonesia". The Times of India. 2 January 2005.
  5. "Special ships to join search for missing AN-32". 27 July 2016.
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