N D V Visakhapatnam
Maiden docking of 7 ships - 1989
History
The Indian Navy had its presence on the Eastern Coast, as early as in the 1940's. A handful of small warships were positioned at Visakhapatnam. To service these warships a Boat Repair Shop was established in 1940 under HMIS Circars. These crafts used to provide logistic support to the British Army operating in Burma. The Boat Repair Shop was converted into a Base Repair Organisation (BRO) in 1958 under the then INS Circars. The BRO was the forerunner of what is today the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam ND(VZG).
In the late sixties, there were a number of acquisitions of the then state of the art and highly sophisticated warships and submarines from friendly countries. While the Bay of Bengal surged to welcome these Men of War, it was inevitable that the BRO had to rise to the occasion and develop into a Yard with the sophistication of the vessels she was entrusted to keep fighting fit. The repair organisation was upgraded to a Naval Dockyard in 1972 and today spreads over 704 acres of land with a waterfront of about 5 Kms and 3.5 Kms of jetties / berths.
ND (VZG) boasts of three major dry docks that are capable of docking ships up to 40,000 DWT. The Yard also has facilities for covered dry dock with improved working conditions. In addition, a slipway provides docking for smaller ships and Yard crafts.ND (VZG) today is undoubtedly one of the most technically sophisticated Ship Repair Yards in the country and has imbibed a high degree of skills in repair and maintenance of a wide variety of modern warships and submarines with state of the art weapons, missile guidance systems, guns, torpedos, advanced propulsion systems like gas turbines, high speed diesel engines, their electronic control and monitoring devices and communication systems. The Yard employs over 6000 skilled personnel from 55 different trades, employed in over 100 work centres in ship repair activities and is the biggest organisation of its kind on the Eastern Coast.
Functional Role
The primary objective of ND (VZG) is timely and successful completion of scheduled refits of ships, submarines and Yard Crafts. ND (VZG) is also required to provide repair facilities to operational ships of the Indian Navy, operating in the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) area, which are beyond the capabilities of the ship's staff and Maintenance Units viz. FMU / FMU(VZG), SMU (VZG), NRW and FTSU(VZG).
Functions and Responsibilities
The functions and responsibilities of ND (VZG) are as follows :-
- Refits of ships and submarines as promulgated by IHQ MoD(N).
- Repairs / maintenance support to operational ships for jobs that are beyond the capability of Maintenance Units.
- Berthing and movement of ships.
- Repairs to repairable inventory of Materials Organisation, Visakhapatnam.
- Maintenance support to outlying units of Eastern Naval Command.
- Meeting any special requirements of Eastern Naval Command/IHQMoD(N).।
- Proper upkeep, maintenance and utilisation of plant, machinery and assets
- Providing yard services to the ship and submarines of the Eastern Naval Command.
- Maintenance of yard services and yard crafts.
- Administer sailors and DSC personnel attached to ND (V).
- Use facilities, such as laboratory and non-destructive testing for the development of equipment/components of stores.
- Utilise the spare capacity of ND (VZG) profitably by undertaking suitable work for non-naval vessels, for other Government Departments as well as for public and private enterprises on suitable payments as authorized by IHQ MoD(N).
- Train apprentices in the Dockyard Apprentice School as per the statutory regulations in force by the Central and State Governments.
- Translate and print the Repair Technical Documents (RTDs) as specified by IHQ MoD(N).
- Carry out personnel functions for all personnel for whom the Admiral Superintendent is appointing authority.
- Meet requirements of Dockyard Quality Manual (DQM) for various dockyard activities, as relevant.
- Ensure quality and cost effectiveness in all activities of the Yard
Major Achievements
Over the past one year the yard has refited 22 ships and submarines.
