Port Blair, Dec 19: Vice Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P, AVSM, VSM, today commissioned IN LCU L-55 Ship into service in a ceremony at Haddo Naval Jetty, Port Blair. IN LCU L-55 is the latest Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mark- IV series ship.
The commissioning ceremony was conducted as per Naval traditions and witnessed by many senior officers from the Indian Navy, Army, Air Force and other dignitaries including Rear Admiral VK Saxena (Retd) Chief Managing Director of M/s Garden Reach Ship Builders & Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, Kolkata.
INLCU L-55 is the fifth of the eight LCU Mark-IV ships designed and built by M/s GRSE Ltd., Kolkata. Four ships of the same class, INLCU L-51 to L-54 have already been commissioned till date. Speaking at the occasion, the chief guest Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P reiterated the importance of indigenization & self-reliance in ship building and congratulated M/s GRSE to have delivered another fine warship to the Indian Nay.
The ship is equipped with state of the art systems like Integrated Platform Management System and Integrated Bridge Management System. The ship is also fitted with an Electronic Warfare suite, and day/ night capable armament systems. Displacing nearly 1,000 Tonnes, with an endurance of over 1,500 nautical miles, the ship is capable of moving at maximum speed of 15 knots.
The primary role of this ship is to transport, deploy and recover troops and armament from ship to shore and vice versa, during amphibious operations. In addition, the ship will be deployed for maritime security of the A&N islands, as well as for Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions. Induction of the ship will significantly enhance the sealift capability of the Andaman and Nicobar Command. The ship is being commanded by Lieutenant Commander Abhishek Kumar and has been placed under the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command
