Immediate Support Vessel

Immediate Support Vessel (ISV) is a type of light patrol boat of the Indian Navy.

Design and description
The ISVs have been designed and built by SHM Shipcare, Abu Dhabi Ship Building (ADSB) and Rodman 78 of Spain, for the patrol boat requirement of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and the Indian Navy.

The ISVs are made of fiberglass reinforced hulls, and are capable of operating in sea state 6 conditions. They are fitted with two Caterpillar engines, each of 1600 hp, which enables top speed of 40 knots using water jet propulsion, and a radius of operation of 500 nautical miles. The boats are armed with heavy and light machine guns, and also carry modern navigational and communication sensors and equipment for day and night surveillance. They also carry an inflatable Gemini boat to enable rapid insertion or extraction of the Indian Navy's MARCOS for search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol. The patrol boats are commanded by an officer of the rank of Lieutenant and have a crew of six sailors, and can carry a total of 20 people on board.

Delivery
Seven boats were delivered to the Western Naval Command (WNC) on 30 January 2014, and three boats were delivered to the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) on 5 June 2014.

Service history
There are currently two operational squadrons of these boats in the Indian Navy. They are the 81st ISV squadron composed of seven boats home-ported at Mumbai under the WNC, and the 83rd ISV squadron composed of three boats (T-35, T-36 and T-37) at Visakhapatnam under the ENC. Lieutenants Abhinash Kumar, Mayuresh Singh and Pradeep Singh Ranawat are the first commanding officers of ISVs T-35, T36 and T37 respectively. The navy plans to deploy a total of 23 boats, with ENC getting nine.

Images

 * ISV in Mumbai on patrol duty
 * ISV in Mumbai on patrol duty
 * ISV in Mumbai on patrol duty