Immediate Support Vessel (ISV) is a type of light and armed

patrol boat A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and th ...

of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates sig ...

Design and description

The ISVs have been designed and built by SHM Shipcare, Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and Rodman 78 of Spain, for the patrol boat requirement of India's

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It is headquartered in New Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the ...

(ONGC) and the Indian Navy. and were funded by ONGC. The ISVs are made of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cl ...

reinforced hulls, and are capable of operating in

sea state In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height ...

6 conditions. They are fitted with two Caterpillar engines, each of , which enables top speed of 40 knots using water jet propulsion, and a radius of operation of 500 nautical miles. The boats are armed with heavy and light machine guns, and also carry modern navigational and communication sensors and equipment for day and night surveillance. They also carry an inflatable Gemini boat to enable rapid insertion or extraction of the Indian Navy's

MARCOS Marcos may refer to: People with the given name ''Marcos'' *Marcos (given name) Sports ;Surnamed * Dayton Marcos, Negro league baseball team from Dayton, Ohio (early twentieth-century) * Dimitris Markos, Greek footballer * Nélson Marcos, Portugue ...

for search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol. The patrol boats are commanded by an officer of the rank of

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

and have a crew of six sailors, and can carry a total of 20 people on board.

Service history

One Immediate Support Vessel deployed at

Bombay High The Mumbai High Field, formerly called the Bombay High Field, is an offshore oilfield 176 km off the west coast of Mumbai, in Gulf of Cambay region of India, in about 75 m of water. The oil operations are run by India's Oil and Natural ...

fired at a fisherman in a boat. The incident occurred on Sunday, May 17, 2015, in the Arabian Sea, around 80 km off

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the secon ...

. The boat had strayed into the high security and prohibited area of an offshore oil rig, and anchored close to an oil platform. According to the navy's report, "despite repeated warnings, the boat refused to move out of the prohibited area, which is when the warning shots were fired into the water. One round deflected on hitting the water and hit a fisherman in a boat." He was evacuated in a helicopter and taken to a hospital, where is condition was reported to be stable.

Vessels

Seven boats were delivered to the

Western Naval Command The Western Naval Command is one of the three command–level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. As the senior–most of the three formations, the command is responsible for the all naval forces in the ...

(WNC) on 30 January 2014, three boats were delivered to the

Eastern Naval Command The Eastern Naval Command is one of the three command-level formations of the Indian Navy. It is headquartered in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. The command is responsible for the all naval forces in the Bay of Bengal and parts of the Indian Ocea ...

(ENC) on 5 June 2014, four boats T-26, T-27, T-28 and T-47 were commissioned into the WNC on 27 February 2015, and three boats T-38, T-39 and T-40, were commissioned into ENC on 24 March 2015. There are currently four operational squadrons of these boats in the Indian Navy. They are the ''81st ISV squadron'' composed of seven boats home-ported at

under the WNC, and six boats home-ported at

Visakhapatnam , image_alt = , image_caption = From top, left to right: Visakhapatnam aerial view, Vizag seaport, Simhachalam Temple, Aerial view of Rushikonda Beach, Beach road, Novotel Visakhapatnam, INS Kursura submarine museu ...

under the ENC under the ''83rd ISV squadron'' composed of three boats T-35, T-36 and T-37, and the ''84th ISV squadron'' composed of three boats T-38, T-39 and T-40. Of the three initial boats of the 84th ISV squadron, two were constructed by Rodman Spain and the third one by Abu Dhabi Ship Builders (ADSB). The boats were delivered to the Navy Dockyard at Mumbai for Delivery Acceptance Trials, after which they sailed 1,200 nautical miles to Visakhapatnam in 12 days. The boats faced strong winds and high seas while crossing the

Gulf of Mannar The Gulf of Mannar ( ) is a large shallow bay forming part of the Laccadive Sea in the Indian Ocean with an average depth of .

, and satisfied the navy with their seaworthiness. The navy plans to deploy a total of 23 boats, with ENC getting nine. All boats of this class are being commanded by officers of the rank of

. The boats T-26, T-27, T-28 and T-47 have been sponsored by the ONGC and are being manned by the navy, for the security of Mumbai and

. The boats of the 84th ISV squadron will patrol off the coast of Visakhapatnam and

Kakinada Kakinada ( formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the sixth largest city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the district headquarters of the Kakinada District. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Bengal. J. ...

References

External links

{{commons category, Immediate Support Vessels
Immediate Support Vessel - SHM ShipcareImmediate Support Vessel engineering design for the ONGC variant

Images

ISV in Mumbai on patrol dutyISV in Mumbai on patrol dutyISV in Mumbai on patrol dutyISV docked in Visakhapatnamon they day of their commissioningISV docked in Visakhapatnamon they day of their commissioning
Patrol vessels of the Indian Navy Patrol boat classes 2014 ships Ships built in India Military boats