Even Hudhud could not stop INS Sindhukirti refit at HSL

VISAKHAPATNAM: In a major boost for both, the Indian Navy and Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarine - INS Sindhukirti, which has been undergoing a medium refit at HSL, was undocked at the yard on Tuesday evening. Official sources at HSL said more than 90% of the work has been completed on the seventh submarine of the Sindhughosh-class INS Sindhukirti.

The undocking of the submarine comes as a major fillip to the Indian Navy and HSL as both have suffered major losses due to havoc caused by Cyclone Hudhud. Senior HSL officials also pointed out that this was also the first major project

of national interest to be completed after Cyclone Hudhud made landfall in the Port City on October 12.

According to senior HSL officials, the submarine is expected to be handed over to the Indian Navy in the next five months after it undertakes trials at sea in the coming days. The medium refit, which is estimated to have cost around Rs 800-900 crore, took nearly seven years for the submarine to be undocked at the shipyard. 

Speaking to TOI, chairman-cum-managing director of HSL, Rear Admiral (retd) NK Mishra said, "This is a major industrial achievement for Vizag in the aftermath of the cyclone." Having taken necessary precautions to safeguard key equipment at the shipyard prior to the cyclone, Mishra said, "If we hadn't foreseen the problems, the project could have been delayed by at least two months. We had installed generators and left the cranes loose so that they would not be damaged. In fact we were able to get back to work on October 13 (the day after the cyclone) itself even though the roads leading to the yard were yet to be cleared."

According to HSL sources, even though the roof of the yard, where the medium refit was taking place, had been damaged, HSL got back to work the day after the cyclone to ensure that the undocking takes place as per the deadline. Sources said that considering the damage caused by Hudhud, it was quite surprising that HSL could complete the work only four days after the deadline.

While HSL had received flak from various quarters for taking seven years to complete the medium refit, a senior HSL official said, "The delay was not due to HSL. If you compare the work undertaken by HSL, it's almost 300% more than what was initially specified in the contract."

Elaborating, he said, "If a medium refit at Russia involves replacement of three hull plates, with each of them taking 3-4 months, we have replaced 39 hull plates in a record time."

Another HSL official said, "It was a complex task and we decided on the undocking date about a year ago and we have delivered. This project has seen replacement of a large piping system. About 85 km long cables and 65 km long piping systems were replaced. All these are automated system and trials need to start now for interfacing the systems."