Yardcraft Story Indian Navy

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Aircraft Carrier Support at Harbour – Indian Yardcraft Story

1. My tenure at Naval Headquarter [IHQ MoD(Navy)] at Directorate of Staff Requirements (DSR) from Jan 2007 to Jun 2009 was at a time when

there were no new commissioning and many projects were slipping, bearing a Time & Cost over runs. One among such plans was the 10th Yardcraft Plan,

which ran from period 01 Apr 2002 to 31 Mar 2007 and envisaged a total of 56 Yardcraft.

2. With 10th Plan about to close in 02 months on 31 Mar 2007 and nil Yardcraft realised from the 10th plan, it was a pain full matter. Things were

complicated with ‘ex-Gorshkov’ about to be realised, as per original schedule, and there were no Yardcraft like 50 Ton Bollard Pull Tugs (to pull the Carrier),

1000 Ton self-propelled Oiler (to fuel the Carrier), 500 Ton/ 1000 Ton self-propelled Feed water/ Fresh water Barge (to sustain the carrier), Tank

Cleaning Vessel (to maintain Boilers at anchorage), 250 Men Ferry craft (to carry personnel to/from the Carrier), as Carrier would not be able to come

alongside most of the time in most of the Indian Ports. With just 02 months to lapse and whole Yardcraft budget to lapse, it was a big setback, as of

course a denial of the capability to Indian Navy. The whole issue was being reviewed at many levels and many places, but the Yardcraft were not in sight.

3. A quick look at the problem in hand gave an out-right impression that

most of the Staff Requirements were either not understood by the Industry or

what was being stated was not offer-able by the Indian Maritime Industry/ Shipyards. It was also seen that big Shipyards were not interested in

Yardcraft but were interested in Warships for which the competition was really hot. With these two problems in hand, quick fix solution was available at two

places, one in DSR (at my desk) to refine the staff requirements which are sharable/ understandable by Indian Shipyards and second at DSP to

encourage the small shipyards with potent capability and capacity.

4. 50/ 25 Ton Bollard Pull Tugs. Carrier berthing requires that big Tug comes close underneath her and push her towards the berth. Flare of the

Carrier would be obstructionist as Tug height (Mast) would not allow her to do so. Global Tugs, as used for Garibaldi class were examined. Retracting mast/

top was impressive but disturbed the dynamic stability of Tug, as also powering requirement at that time, quick housing down, maintenance issues

etc. Most of the advanced navies like to keep carrier at most of the time at

sea/ anchorage and hence many navies had obviated the need of retractable mast/ top. Dynamic stability and revolving towing aspects were examined

thoroughly. Height restrictions were defined as were towing/ rescue mission requirements (self-tensioning hook) in detail and finally SQRs were cleared in

Jun 2007. Soon, approval from SCAPCC/ SCAPCHC/ DAC were taken and RFP was issued. Smooth TEC, CNC led to final contracting. It is learnt that these



Tugs are under construction and would be available to the Navy before any of the new Carriers get operational in the Indian Ocean. Similar smooth story

ensued for the 25 Ton & 10 Ton Bollard Pull Tug. Defining of the Operational speed, Towing speed, Maximum speed with correct loading curves also

bridged the gap of understanding between Indian Industry and Navy.

5. Tank Cleaning Vessel (TCV). This is a unique requirement of the Navy unlike maritime vessels. Most of the maritime vessels operate on diesel

engine power and unique powering of warships by steam engine entails that maintenance of their boilers is done even at anchorage. TCV may be propelled

or dumb barge and has its own boilers to produce steam to clean the boilers.

With such unique features, this Yardcraft is an important asset during Assistance Maintenance Period (AMP) even at anchorage. Number of boilers

were rationalised so that its size is compact but yet enough to do full scale maintenance of the Carrier in the limited time available during AMP.

6. Other Yardcraft. While defining all the Carriers Yardcraft, it was well

planned that they should be able to go and support/ sustain the Carrier at outer anchorages also. For reasons like this, most of these modern Yardcraft

are fitted with COTS Navigation Radar, Communication equipment and such modern equipment. In the time to follow, all the 102 Yardcraft requirements

were defined (24 types) and approved as SQRs, all of them being either Build-able or Buy-able INDIAN. The number of Yardcraft rose from 56 in 10th

plan to 102 in 11th plan as 46 numbers of original 11th plan were added to rollover of 10th plan. It is learnt that these all Yardcraft are in various stages

of construction. Following different types of Yardcraft were defined and

projected for procurement:- a. 50/ 25/ 10 Ton Bollard Pull Tug.

b. Victualing barge. c. Tank Cleaning Vessel.

d. Admiral’s Barge e. 250/ 50 Men Ferry craft.

f. 200Ton Fresh water dumb barge. g. 300 Ton/ 500 Ton Fresh water self-propelled (sp) barge.

h. 500/ 1000 Ton Fresh/ Feed water sp barge. i. 500T/ 1000T sp oiler.

j. Sullage Barge k. Torpedo barge

l. Missile barge. m. Sewage Barge

n. Flotsam barge.

o. Work Boat. p. 9.2 m Motor Boat.

q. LCVP

7. Life Jackets-HDLJ. With lesson learnt from lives lost at sea, it had become important that due modification be done to traditional life jacket



(called GSLJ-General Service Life Jacket). It was important that we introduce the two chambered life jacket in line with SOLAS requirements and such a

jacket be designed such that it is ergonomic to seaman’s working during the sea evolution. After due examination of global navies life jackets, such a

requirement were defined. A sample was also developed with lead Indian Industries and tried out by FOST. It is learnt that today, after 60 years of

Independence, a new life jacket by the name Hazardous Duty Life Jacket has come into force which is easy to wear, provides redundancy, self-actuating in

emergency and best of all, easy to wear by Sikh brethren.

8. Today, it is no secret that, Indian Navy has moved a lot from

‘indigenisation’ to ‘self-reliance’ in a big way. Apart from traditional DPSU shipyards viz MDL, GRSE, HSL etc, we have private shipyard making inroads

into Indian Navy by getting big warship construction orders. The story of Yarcrdaft, howsoever small, needs to be told in a way that from nil in 10th

plan, all 102 become realisable in 11th plan. There is no magic or going out of way for this but is a simple integration, from the time of SQR formulation,

through RFIs and series of presentation, followed by correct vendor technical assessment by way of its capacity and capability and then posing a faith in a

flawless procurement process. What happened in this Yardcraft story was nothing but a ‘turnaround’ in which seamless integration at the bottom with

correct blessings from seniors ensured the magic. I am sure this magic can be repeated umpteen times at umpteen places under varying environment with

different stakeholders in different technologies projects. Later, I got posted to HQ IDs, where integration of Indian Industry (ASSOCHAM, CII, FICCI) was

carried out with the SCAPCC process, bringing more ‘Buy Indian’ to the whole

process. God Bless the Navy and God Bless Bharat.

About the Author: Cdr Kamaljit Singh Jassal served as Joint Director in DSR at NHQ and Perspective Planning & Force Structuring Division at HQ IDS. As Member Secy of SCAPCC, he processed over 400 Capital Acquisition of 3 services and ICG

worth billions. He was instrumental in formulating & obtaining approval for LTIPP2012-27 and revised Offset Policy. After retirement, he is working as Country

Manager in a US MNC and can be reached at [email protected].

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Yardcraft Story Indian Navy