India’s Miniratna DPSU HSL delivers second diving support vessel, nearing a full submarine rescue capability

Hindustan Shipyard Limited has delivered Nipun, the second vessel in the Indian Navy’s new diving support ship class. The vessel can conduct deep-sea operations, support submarine rescue missions and deploy remotely operated systems for salvage work.

Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL), a Miniratna Category-I Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU), today delivered the Diving Support Vessel (DSV) Nipun to the Indian Navy, the second hull in a class that closes a long-standing gap in India’s undersea rescue architecture. The vessel has been designed and built in accordance with the Classification Rules of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

The delivery follows INS Nistar’s handover roughly a year earlier, and its commissioning at Visakhapatnam in July 2025 as the class’s lead ship. The Acceptance Document (D448) covering Nipun’s transfer was signed by Rear Admiral Arvind Rawal, VSM, Chief Staff Officer (Technical), Western Naval Command and Chairman of the D448 Committee, and Rear Admiral Chandrasekharan Raghuram, VSM (Retd.), Chairman and Managing Director, HSL.

The Significance of the Name

‘Nipun‘ is a Sanskrit word meaning one who is adept, capable,........

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