INS Investigator
.jpg) INS Investigator during Exercise Milan 2014 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 India | |
| Name: | INS Investigator |
| Builder: | Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers |
| Commissioned: | 1990 |
| Identification: | J15 |
| Status: | in active service |
| Badge: |
 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Hydrographic survey ship |
| Displacement: | 1,929 long tons (1,960 t) full |
| Length: | 87.8 m (288 ft 1 in) |
| Beam: | 12.8 m (42 ft 0 in) |
| Draft: | 3.3 m (10 ft 10 in) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 18 officers + 160 enlisted |
| Armament: | 1 × Bofors 40 mm gun |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × HAL Chetak helicopter |
| Aviation facilities: | Helipad |
INS Investigator (J15) is the fourth ship of the Sandhayak class. The ship operates as a hydrographic survey ship in the Indian Navy, under the Western Naval Command. Investigator is equipped to prepare marine charts and electronic maps for Electronic Chart Display & Information ECDIS system. As a secondary role, the Investigator can provide operational humanitarian aid and disaster management support, for which purpose the ship can quickly be converted into a hospital ship. The ship is equipped with an Operating Theater and associated equipment needed for attending to medical emergencies at sea.[2]
Description of the Investigator
The Investigator was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers and launched in 1990 by Jyoti Basu, a previous Chief Minister of West Bengal. It was commissioned into the Naval service at Mumbai naval base in 1990.[2] One of a series of indigenous designed and constructed ships, the Investigator is employed as a hydrographic survey ship. In addition to survey equipment, the ship is armed with a Bofors 40 mm gun for self defence, and carries a helicopter, four survey motor boats, and two small boats. Like the other sister ships of the Sadhayak-class, the Investigator is equipped with a wide range of surveying, navigational, and communication systems. The next-generation surveying systems fitted on board include multi-beam swath echo sounding system, differential gps, motion sensors, sea gravimeter, magnetometer, oceanographic sensors, side scan sonars, automated data logging system, sound velocity profiling system, digital survey and processing system.[3] The equipments allow the ship to meet the stringent international/ISO 9002 digital survey accuracy standards required for the production of electronic navigation charts and publications as per the International Hydrographic Organisation. Investigator is powered by two diesel engines.
Survey task
The primary tasks of Investigator are hydrographic survey, nautical chart preparation, with cartography and training. To effectively conduct its work Investigator is also equipped with a ROV, an AUV and an USV. In 2013 the ship carried out survey work of the seas around the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The survey was necessary as the earthquake and 2004 tsunami caused massive geo-morphological changes to the islands and the surrounding seafloor, affecting the movement of ships and smaller water craft.[2] In early 2008, the ship conducted a hydrographic survey in Seychelles in close cooperation with the Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) and the Seychelles People's Defence Force (SPDF). The survey covered the entire coastline of 32 nautical miles, from North Point to Petite Anse. The survey work was important as the existing navigational charts were made in 1890.[4] In 2008 the ship also conducted survey work in and around the western part of Mahe to facilitate the preparation of a new navigational chart.[5] In the same year, Investigator also conducted survey work in Mauritius, surveying 30% of the St Brandon Shoals, in order to update charts that were first prepared in 1851, as well as to create profile for MOI–CLCS Survey.[6] The survey of the Saya de Malha Banks allowed the Government of Mauritius to claim an extended continental shelf beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone.[7]
Anti-piracy operations
In late 2011 Investigator was involved in an anti-piracy operation when it intercepted and disabled a pirate dhow. While traversing through the Gulf of Aden the ship received a distress call from MV Naftocement 18, a merchant vessel. Though other ships (including the INS Gomati) were on anti-piracy duty during that time, the Investigator undertook swift action to intercept the dhow. A boarding party was launched to disable the dhow, and a search revealed that the dhow was equipped with 6 skiffs with out board motors, armed with AK 47 and ammunition, and supplied with ample food and water.[8]
References
- ↑ "J 15 Sandhayak Class". globalsecurity.org. 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2012.
- 1 2 3 "INS Investigator Surveys Andaman and Nicobar Islands".
- ↑ "Indian navy ship on goodwill visit".
- ↑ "Indian naval ship concludes hydrographic survey".
- ↑ "Indian navy ship on goodwill visit".
- ↑ "SOUTHERN AFRICA AND ISLANDS HYDROGRAPHIC COMMISSION (SAIHC) COUNTRY REPORT REPUBLIC OF MAURITIUS" (PDF).
- ↑ "Signing of Protocol for Sale of Navigational".
- ↑ "Navy disables 'pirate' dhow in Gulf of Aden".
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