Indian Naval Landing Craft Utility L58 commissioned at PortBlair

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Indian Naval Landing Craft Utility L58, the eighth and last ship of the Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mark IV Class, was commissioned into the Indian Navy on 18th March 2021 at Port Blair.

Lieutenant General Manoj Pande, AVSM, VSM, the Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command (CINCAN)was the Chief Guest and Rear Admiral Vipin Kumar Saxena, IN (Retd) Chairman and Managing Director, Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE) was present for the event.

Commander Krishan K Yadav read the Commissioning Warrant as the first Commanding Officer of the ship. The ship is manned by a motivated team of five officers and 50 sailors.

Indigenously designed and built by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata, the ship’s commissioning has added one more feather in the cap of the nation’s ‘Make in India’programme in the field of warship design and construction.

LCU 58 is an amphibious shipcan carry 160 troops, in addition to its crew. With a displacement of 900 Tons, the ship is capable of carrying various types of combat vehicles such as Main Battle Tanks (MBTs), BMPs, Armoured Vehicles, trucks, etc.

The ship measures 63 meters in length and is fitted with two MTA 4000 series engines, which are capable of propelling the ship at speeds of up to 15 Knots(28 Kmph). The ship is also fitted with an advanced Electronic Support Measure (ESM) suite to intercept enemy radar transmissions, an advancedIntegrated Bridge System (IBS) and a sophisticated Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS), which allow single station monitoring of the ship’s navigational and machinery equipment respectively.

The main armament of the ship includes two indigenously manufactured 30 mm CRN 91 guns which are controlled by a StabilisedOptronic Pedestal (SOP),an electronic day-night director sightmanufactured by M/s Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL).

In addition, the ship is fitted with six Machine Gun Posts to neutralize air, surface and sub-conventional threats. 

LCU 58 would be based at Port Blair and will be deployed in a variety of roles such as Beaching, Search and Rescue, Disaster Relief, Coastal Patrol and Surveillance operations along the Andaman and Nicobar Group of Islands, Bay of Bengal and in the Indian Ocean.

IN LCU L- 58 will augment the Indian Navy’s mobility, reach and flexibility, furthering the Andaman and Nicobar Command’s motto,‘Victory through Jointness’