Indian Register of Shipping classed vessel ‘Balbir’ was delivered by Hindustan Shipyard Limited to the Indian Navy earlier this month. This was the 200th vessel delivered by HSL to Indian Navy.

During the ceremony, the Class certificates were handed over to Cmde Kunjumon E. Mathew, Director (Shipbuilding), HSL by Mr Saikat Roychowdhury, Head of Survey Station, IRS Visakhapatnam. The 50-tonne bollard pull tug, sailed out on 8 January 2022 with HSL engineers onboard for delivery to Indian Navy at Naval Dockyard (Mumbai). The tug designed and built by HSL under IRS class can achieve a speed of up to 12 knots. During the first sea trials itself, the ship has proved her capabilities and achieved performance greater than the contractual requirements.

Mr Saikat Roychowdhury, Head of Survey Station, said: “IRS has been associated with Hindustan Shipyard for very long time and it was significant that IRS was the class for delivery of HSL’s 200th vessel. IRS will be associated with HSL for all their future shipbuilding projects to promote the Atmanirbhar Bharat call given by Hon’ble Prime Minister.”

Mr. G Natarajan, Regional Manager South Coast of India at IRS, mentioned: “This historic milestone has been the result of great teamwork between all stakeholders for many years. IRS not only ensures compliance with procedural requirements, but also guides the yard towards possible solutions for any issues faced during the classification process.”