2. INTRODUCTION
• Makar class survey catamaran are a series of six 500 ton
steel hull/aluminium superstructure Hydrographic Survey
Catamarans being built by Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd at
its Bhavnagar shipyard for the Indian Navy.
• The ships are designed by an Australian naval architecture
firm Sea Transport Solutions, which is based on
Queensland's Gold Coast.
3. DESCRIPTION
• The ships are intended to undertake coastal hydrographic survey, required for
production of nautical charts and publications aimed at improving navigation
through waters closer to coasts.
• The ships are also capable of limited coastal defence role in an emergency,
limited search and rescue and limited ocean research.
• The ships are equipped with standard hydrographic survey equipment such as
advanced electronic positioning system, multi-beam swath sounding systems
and sub-bottom profiler.
• The ships also carry two survey motor boats along with Kongsberg Maritime's
Hugin 1000 Autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) for closer investigations.
• The catamarans are propelled by four Cummins engines as well as two bow
thrusters. The entire propulsion, navigational and power management
4.
5. CONSTRUCTION
• Alcock Ashdown (Gujarat) Ltd was awarded this contract,
worth INR8 billion (US$131 million) on 28 December 2006
through open competitive bidding, beating others like Larsen
& Toubro, ABG Shipyard and Garden Reach Shipbuilders &
Engineers.
• As per original term of contract, the first vessel was to be
delivered by 6 April 2009, while the remaining five vessels
were to be delivered within a year from 6 July 2009.
• This was later rescheduled, the revised delivery period of
vessels is from September 2011 to March 2013.
