Indian Navy's three-decade-old fleet of minesweepers is depleting at a fast rate and yet, a Rs 24,000-crore contract proposal to augment it with eight new Korean-made vessels is entangled in the Defence Ministry's redtape for nearly three years now.
Indian Navy's three-decade-old fleet of minesweepers is depleting at a fast rate and yet, a Rs 24,000-crore contract proposal to augment it with eight new Korean-made vessels is entangled in the Defence Ministry's redtape for nearly three years now.
The Mine Counter-Measure Vessels (MCMV)—capable of minesweeping and minehunting are critical to naval operations. They help in carrying out sweeps at the entry and exit points of dockyards to sanitise these passageways of enemy mines ahead of Indian warships sailing out to the sea.
India had, after a decade-long procurement process, zeroed in on the South Korean shipyard, Pusan-based Kangnam Corporation, as the lowest bidder in a tender for construction of MCMVs for the Indian Navy in 2010. It was said then that the Defence Ministry would complete its cost negotiations with Kangnam, which best Italian Intermarine to the contract, and issue the orders for building the vessels within two months.
“Three years since, the contract negotiations have not happened and the contract proposal for the MCMV is now buried among files in the defence ministry,” lamented a senior Indian Navy officer, when The Sunday Standard asked him about the progress in the minesweepers procurement.
The Navy had expected the Defence Ministry to conclude the contract as soon as Kangnam was identified as the foreign shipyard to provide the minesweepers in view of the urgency felt in adding these specialist vessels in to the fleet.
With a variety of naval mines that are triggered by pressure, acoustic or electro-magnetic signals from a surface warship or a submarine available in the arms bazaar, these are some of the cheapest ways to sink an enemy warship. Laying of these mines are quite easily done and hence the threat perception from these self-contained explosives to warships are quite high, Navy officers pointed out.
“Hence the urgency in procuring these specialist vessels and inducting them as early as humanly possible,” they added.
According to the tenders, the chosen shipyard was to build the first two MCMVs and the rest six were to be constructed at Goa Shipyard Limited under a licence, with technology transfer being part of the contract. This was to create capabilities at GSL to build minesweepers in the future, as a requirement for more of these vessels was envisioned.
Navy officers noted that Kangnam’s selection itself was done after crossing hurdles, as its competitors had moved the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in 2010 against the Indian choice of the Korean firm as the lowest bidder. Detailed explanations to the CVC had settled the issue in favour of Kangnam by April 2011. Since then, no progress have been made in the procurement process, they added.
Just over a decade ago, the Navy was operating 12 of Pondicherry/Karwar class of minesweepers, but had to decommission five of them after completion of their serviceable life. INS Pondicherry, the first of this class of minesweepers, was built by Russia and commissioned in 1978. It was decommissioned in 2007. Since then, four other minesweepers of this class too have been decommissioned at regular intervals. The last of the Karwar class of minesweepers was commissioned in 1988 and this class of warships has completed the serviceable life of 20 years and has entered the obsolescence phase.
The Navy, at present, operates seven Pondicherry/Karwar class of minesweepers in its fleet, of which one is based in Mumbai and the rest six in Visakhapatnam. These seven vessels have gone through a midlife upgrade to extend their service life by another decade and for adding latest technologies to boost their capabilities.
“Yet, these minesweepers’ hull is still old. How long can the Navy flog these old horses?” wondered another officer. The officers pointed out that even if the MCMV contract was awarded this year, the first two vessels would not be delivered before 2018 and GSL would take another two to four years before completing its part of the contract for rest of the fleet.
The Mine Counter-Measure Vessels (MCMV)—capable of minesweeping and minehunting are critical to naval operations. They help in carrying out sweeps at the entry and exit points of dockyards to sanitise these passageways of enemy mines ahead of Indian warships sailing out to the sea.
India had, after a decade-long procurement process, zeroed in on the South Korean shipyard, Pusan-based Kangnam Corporation, as the lowest bidder in a tender for construction of MCMVs for the Indian Navy in 2010. It was said then that the Defence Ministry would complete its cost negotiations with Kangnam, which best Italian Intermarine to the contract, and issue the orders for building the vessels within two months.
“Three years since, the contract negotiations have not happened and the contract proposal for the MCMV is now buried among files in the defence ministry,” lamented a senior Indian Navy officer, when The Sunday Standard asked him about the progress in the minesweepers procurement.
The Navy had expected the Defence Ministry to conclude the contract as soon as Kangnam was identified as the foreign shipyard to provide the minesweepers in view of the urgency felt in adding these specialist vessels in to the fleet.
With a variety of naval mines that are triggered by pressure, acoustic or electro-magnetic signals from a surface warship or a submarine available in the arms bazaar, these are some of the cheapest ways to sink an enemy warship. Laying of these mines are quite easily done and hence the threat perception from these self-contained explosives to warships are quite high, Navy officers pointed out.
“Hence the urgency in procuring these specialist vessels and inducting them as early as humanly possible,” they added.
According to the tenders, the chosen shipyard was to build the first two MCMVs and the rest six were to be constructed at Goa Shipyard Limited under a licence, with technology transfer being part of the contract. This was to create capabilities at GSL to build minesweepers in the future, as a requirement for more of these vessels was envisioned.
Navy officers noted that Kangnam’s selection itself was done after crossing hurdles, as its competitors had moved the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) in 2010 against the Indian choice of the Korean firm as the lowest bidder. Detailed explanations to the CVC had settled the issue in favour of Kangnam by April 2011. Since then, no progress have been made in the procurement process, they added.
Just over a decade ago, the Navy was operating 12 of Pondicherry/Karwar class of minesweepers, but had to decommission five of them after completion of their serviceable life. INS Pondicherry, the first of this class of minesweepers, was built by Russia and commissioned in 1978. It was decommissioned in 2007. Since then, four other minesweepers of this class too have been decommissioned at regular intervals. The last of the Karwar class of minesweepers was commissioned in 1988 and this class of warships has completed the serviceable life of 20 years and has entered the obsolescence phase.
The Navy, at present, operates seven Pondicherry/Karwar class of minesweepers in its fleet, of which one is based in Mumbai and the rest six in Visakhapatnam. These seven vessels have gone through a midlife upgrade to extend their service life by another decade and for adding latest technologies to boost their capabilities.
“Yet, these minesweepers’ hull is still old. How long can the Navy flog these old horses?” wondered another officer. The officers pointed out that even if the MCMV contract was awarded this year, the first two vessels would not be delivered before 2018 and GSL would take another two to four years before completing its part of the contract for rest of the fleet.
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