Port Blair, May 25: The Latest landing craft Utility (LCU) Mark IV series ship, INLCU L- 54 was inducted in to the Indian Navy on 25 May 2018, at Port Blair by Vice Admiral G S Pabby, AVSM, VSM, Chief of Material, Integrated Headquarters, MoD (Navy). The induction ceremony was conducted as per naval traditions and was witnessed by senior officers from the Indian Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast guard and Civil administration.
INLCU L-54 is the fourth ship of the eight LCU Mark IV ships designed and built by M/s Garden Reach Ship Builders and Engineers Ltd (GRSE), Kolkata. Speaking on the occasion the chief guest re-iterated the importance of ‘Make in India’ through indigenisation and self-reliance in ship building and congratulated M/S GRSE to have successfully delivered another fine ship to the Indian Navy.
The ship is equipped with state of art systems like Integrated Platform Management System and Bridge Management System. The ship is also fitted with an Electronic Warfare suite and day/night capable armament systems. Displacing nearly 1000 tonnes, with an endurance of over 1500 nautical miles, the ship is capable of a maximum speed 15 Knots.
The primary role of this ship is amphibious operations, search & rescue and maritime security of the A&N islands. Induction of this ship will significantly contribute to operational capability of the Andaman and Nicobar Command in addition to bolstering the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) capability.
