In a boost to India’s maritime capabilities, INS Nistar, the country’s first indigenously designed and constructed Diving Support Vessel (DSV), was commissioned into the Indian Navy on Friday in Visakhapatnam. The commissioning ceremony took place in the presence of Union Minister of State for Defence Sanjay Seth, senior naval officials, and representatives from Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), the shipbuilder.
INS Nistar is the first of two DSVs being built by HSL and is equipped for complex deep-sea saturation diving and submarine rescue operations, a capability limited to a few global navies. It features cutting-edge equipment including Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), a Self-Propelled Hyperbaric Lifeboat, and Diving Compression Chambers, enabling salvage operations up to 300-metre deep. The vessel also serves as a mother ship for the Indian Navy’s deep submergence rescue vessel.
Speaking at the ceremony, MoS Defence Sanjay Seth hailed the induction as a major milestone in the Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiative, noting that all 57 warships currently under construction for the Navy are being built indigenously. He praised the Navy and the Indian shipbuilding industry for their innovation and commitment to self-reliance.
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi described INS Nistar as both a “technological asset” and an “operational enabler.”
“Nistar will provide critical submarine rescue support to the Indian Navy as well as our regional partners. This will enable India to emerge as a ‘Preferred Submarine Rescue Partner’ in this region. The commissioning of Nistar is testimony to the growing capability and maturity of our maritime industrial base, and another shining example of Aatmanirbhar Bharat,” he said.
With over 80% indigenous content and the participation of 120 MSMEs, the 118-meter vessel -displacing more than 10,000 tons – marks a leap forward in India’s undersea warfare and rescue capabilities. It replaces the erstwhile INS Nistar, a Soviet-origin ship decommissioned in the 1980s.