MUMBAI The Indian Navy officially commissioned its second homegrown Nistar class Diving Support Vessel INS Nipun at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on August 31 2026. Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan presided over the historic ceremony.
Indigenously designed by the Navy Warship Design Bureau and built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited HSL in Visakhapatnam INS Nipun marks a crucial step in India maritime self reliance with over 75 percent indigenous content. Measuring 118 meters in length and displacing 8500 tonnes the vessel is built to support deep sea saturation diving up to depths of 300 meters along with subsea maintenance operations.
INS Nipun will serve as a dedicated mother ship for Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles DSRV to execute emergency submarine rescue missions along the strategic western coast. The state of the art ship features advanced dynamic positioning systems a 15 tonne subsea crane remotely operated vehicles ROVs and a specialized eight bed onboard hospital facility complete with an intensive care unit and hyperbaric medical chambers. Operating under the Western Naval Command alongside its sister vessel INS Nistar on the eastern seaboard INS Nipun provides India with a robust two coast deep sea intervention and rescue capability.
