Sea News

As part of the setting up of world class aircraft maintenance facilities in the Yard, the Naval Aircraft Yard (Kochi) set up a Quality Management System certified under the ISO 9001:2000. The Yard was formally certified as ISO 9000 compliant. The certificate was presented by M/s RINA, the Italian Certification Agency of Company Quality Systems (CISQ) and the International Quality Certification Network (IQ Net), to Cmde Koshy Varughese, the Commodore Superintendent of the Yard. The entire Yard is certified to the ISO 9001:2000 standard till September 2004.

INS Krishna, one of the ships of the First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy, celebrated her sixth anniversary. The ship derived her name from INS Kistna, a `Black Swan' type sloop specially built for the then Royal Indian Navy by M/s Yarrow and Company Ltd, Glassgow. The ship was originally a Leander class Frigate with the Royal Navy named HMS Andromeda. The 1st Training Squadron (1TS) comprising INS Tir, INS Krishna and the only Sail Training Ship of the Indian Navy INS Tarangini is tasked with training of cadets.

The 51st Integrated Cadets Course, which passed out in May 1996 was the first batch to be trained on board Krishna. Presently 33 cadets of 62nd Course are undergoing training. The cadets training curriculum includes port familiarization of all the major ports and most of the minor ports of India and a goodwill visit to foreign ports. This is the second ship bearing the name INS Krishna as the earlier one has since been de-commissioned. The ship is under the command of Cdr Kushal Dang.

The Eastern Naval Command hoisted the newly introduced Naval Ensign for the first time at the Independence Day Parade held at the Naval Base, Visakhapatnam. Vice Admiral John C DeSilva, Foc-in-C, Eastern Naval Command and other officers in station saluted the new ensign and ushered its flying on ships and establishments of the ENC. The previous ensign with St George Cross was lowered, once for all, with full service tradition and decorum.

From this Independence Day onwards the personal flags of Admirals have been bearing the Ashoka Lion perched on the anchor against the white background. The present design of the naval ensign was evolved over several years keeping in mind the simplicity and commonality with the flags of the Indian Army and Airforce, and the use of traditional colours associated with the Navy i.e., white and navy blue. The new distinguishing flags of senior officers have started displaying the `Navy Crest' and the appropriate number of `Star' signs depicting the rank of the senior officer in lieu of the red St. George Cross.

A "Slipway" built by the Director General, Naval Projects (DGNP), Visakhapatnam for facilitating docking of medium and small sized naval ships was inaugurated at the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam. Vice Admiral John C DeSilva, FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command unveiled a plaque marking the inauguration of the new facility at a colourful ceremony held at the Naval Dockyard. This modern and state-of-the art complex, first of its kind in the navy, will augment the existing facilities for undertaking repair and overhauls of the naval vessels of tonnage upto 600 tons.

Speaking on the occasion, the FOC-in-C complimented the DGNP organisation for construction of the impressive looking slipway. The FOC-in-C said that the Slipway facility would be efficiently utilised for undertaking repairs of small and medium craft of the Navy. He further said that the facility could also be offered to outside agencies like Merchant Navy and Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT) for repairs of small craft and barges.

The 35th batch of Assistant Commandants course passed out from the Coast Guard District Headquarters, Fort Kochi. The officer trainees completed twenty weeks of exhaustive training, both theoretical and practical afloat training, onboard the Coast Guard training ship Varuna commanded by DIG SPS Basra. Inspector General Prabhakaran Paleri, Commander, Coast Guard Region (West) reviewed the passing out parade and gave away awards and trophies. The `Sword of Honour' instituted by the Director General Coast Guard (DGCG) for the Best All Rounder was awarded to Asst Comdt Girish Dutt Raturi of the 31st course while Asst Comdt PV Gopal of the 35th course received the Overall Best Assistant Commandant during the Phase - 1 afloat training.

The fourth Inter Command Diving Competition was conducted at the Diving School, Kochi. The three Naval Commands, in rotation, hold this competition annually. The aim of this event is to improve upon the professional knowledge, skills and advancement in the field of diving besides generating enthusiasm amongst divers and inculcate esprit de corps. The competition included triathlon, quiz, air diving and oxygen diving. While the competition appeared to be a closely contested one with no clear winner till the last event, the Southern Naval Command finally won with 81 points. Cmde A K Patnaik, Director of Diving at Naval Headquarters, witnessed the competition and gave away the prizes.

Rear Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva took over as the Flag Officer Commanding of Eastern Fleet from Rear Admiral Arun Kumar Singh.

A graduate from the National Defence Academy at Khadakvasla, Pune, Rear Admiral Pradeep Kaushiva was commissioned into the executive branch of Indian Navy in January 1968. After initial specialisation in Communications at Kochi, he held various staff, instructional and command appointments. During his long and illustrious career, rear Admiral Kaushiva commanded the missile vessel INS Veer, Coast Guard ship Vijaya and the indigenous guided missile frigate, INS Ganga.

On becoming a Flag Officer, Rear Admiral Kaushiva held the coveted appointments as the Assistant Chief of the Naval Staff (Information Warfare and Operations) at the Naval Headquarters and the Deputy Commandant of the National Defence Academy.

A convention on Quality Circles of various work centres of the Naval Dockyard, was held at Visakhapatnam. Thirtynine Quality Circle teams in the engineering category and forty teams in the service category presented case studies. They highlighted innovative techniques and fixtures developed to improve the quality of the work performed by the production centres of the yard. The presentations also facilitated a review of the progress and improvements made at their respective work areas with an overall aim to achieve quality output in respect of refits and repairs of ships and submarines at Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.

Rear Admiral Arun Saxena, Admiral Superintendent of Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam who inaugurated the convention emphasised the importance of Quality Circle movement in achieving total quality management.

On this occasion, Mr Ashok Balwani, Regional Manager of M/s Det Norske Veritas formally handed over the ISO 9001:2000 certificates to nine work centres of the yard.

Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam received the ISO Certificate on behalf of the yard.

A motor car rally comprising five medical officers, one lady nursing officer and five sailors of the Naval hospital INHS Asvini, Mumbai, arrived at Kochi after covering a distance of about 6600 kms. The rally was flagged off from Mumbai to commemorate the golden jubilee of INHS Asvini.

The team headed by Surgeon Commander V K Mohindra, passed through several states touching the Metros of New Delhi, Kolkata, along the east coast to Chennai, Kanyakumari, Thiruvananthapuram via Kochi along the west coast before returning to Mumbai just a day prior to the golden jubilee of the oldest hospital of the Indian Navy. Aimed at spreading the message of ‘importance of health and the spirit of adventure’, the team covered an average distance of 600 kms per day. During their drive, the team had some interesting experiences and even rendered medical assistance to accident cases encountered enroute and also distributed literature on AIDS in different languages to increase awareness amongst the people of these states.

The yachting championship, Jal Praveen-2001 at the Southern Naval Command concluded here amidst enthusiasm. This championship was held for 30 days during which seven teams competed in 20 races in enterprise class yacht, 8 races in wind surfing and 3 races in water skiing. The races are held in Ernakulam channel conducted by Seamanship School, a training establishment of Southern Naval Command.

Rear Admiral RP Suthan, Chief of Staff at the Southern Naval Command was the chief guest on the occasion. The event was witnessed by a large gathering of spectators who had assembled to cheer up their respective teams. The Venduruthy /ND School team won the Enterprise class category and also the Jal Praveen overall trophy, while Signal School bagged the wind surfing trophy and ASW/Diving School carried away the trophy for water skiing. This is the third consecutive year that the Venduruthy/ND school team has won this event.

A contingent of over four hundred naval personnel of INS Satavahana, the premier submarine training establishment of the Indian Navy at Visakhapatnam undertook a run-cum-trekking from the Naval Base to Kailashgiri hill top. Theme of the event was "Run for Peace and harmony". The naval contingent consisted of over 280 officers and sailors of the 59th and 60th Basic Submarine Courses undergoing specialised training for conversion into the Submarine Arm of the Navy and accompanied by more than 100 instructional staff of the naval establishment.

On this occasion, the Eastern Naval Command conducted many adventure activities, with an aim to instil a spirit of adventure and endurance, among naval personnel and prepare the under trainees to face the rigours of submarine life. Rear Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, Chief of Staff Headquarters, Eastern Naval Command flagged off the team at INS Satavahana.

The team covered a distance of 20 km following a route through the city and finished at the Kailashgiri hill top by trekking. Capt SH Subramanian, Commanding Officer, INS Satavahana gave away the prizes to the winners.

(With inputs from Cdr M Nambiar
from Kochi and Cdr S Dasika
from Visakhapatnam)