INS Sudarshini

INS Sudarshini (A77) en-route to Sri Lanka
History
India
Name	INS Sudarshini
Namesake	Sundari Nanda
Owner	Indian Navy
Builder	Goa Shipyard Limited
Launched	25 January 2011
Commissioned	27 January 2012
Home port	Kochi, Southern Naval Command
Identification	IMO number:  1011721 MMSI number: 419000297 Pennant number: A77 [1]
Status	Active
General characteristics
Class & type	Three-masted barque
Displacement	513 tons
Length	54 m (177 ft)
Beam	8.53 m (28.0 ft)
Height	34.5 m (113 ft) (mainmast above waterline)
Draught	4.5 m (15 ft)
Installed power	320  hp (240 kW) per engine
Propulsion	2 Kirloskar Cummins diesel engines
Sail plan	Barque rig (1035 m2 sail area)
Complement	61 [2]

INS Sudarshini is a sail training ship built by Goa Shipyard for the Indian Navy. The ship is a sister ship of INS Tarangini which was commissioned in 1997. ^[3] "Sudarshini" means "beautiful lady Sundari" after the younger half-sister of Buddha. ^[4] The ship was designed by Colin Mudie, a naval architect and yacht designer from the United Kingdom. ^[5]

Design and construction

Sudarshini is a three-masted sailing ship with a barque rig. It is 54 metres long and has 20 sails, 7.5 km of rope and 1.5 km of steel wire rope. Its sails have a total area of approximately 1,035 square metres (11,140 sq ft). Capable of operations under sail or power, and with complement of five officers, 31 sailors and 30 cadets embarked for training, it can remain at sea for at least 20 days at a time.

Sudarshini's steel hull was launched on 25 January 2011 at the port town of Vasco da Gama, Goa on the west coast of India, and by then the major portion of work had been completed. It was commissioned in Indian Navy on 27 January 2012 by Vice Admiral K.N. Sushil, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command. Built for worldwide operations, it will be used as a basic seamanship and character building platform. ^[6]

Service history

Sudarshini started its first nine nation voyage of the ASEAN countries on 15 September 2012 to trace the ancient route taken by Indian mariners to South East Asia. During the course of the 12,000 mile voyage, she visited 13 ports in 9 ASEAN countries. The ship visited the ports of Padang, Bali, Manado in Indonesia, Port Muara in Brunei, Cebu, Manila, Da Nang, Sihanoukville in Cambodia, Bangkok, Phuket in Thailand, Singapore, Port Klang in Malaysia and Sittwe in Myanmar. While on the voyage, the ship's embarked Indian Naval and Coast Guard cadets, as well as cadets from other ASEAN countries. ^[7] During the ASEAN deployment, the commanding officer of Sudarshini, Commander N Shyam Sundar, wrote live blogs from sea. This was the first time the Indian Navy had used social media to promote a diplomatic naval voyage. ^[8] The ship returned to its home port, Kochi, on 25 March 2013 and was greeted by the then Defence Minister of India, A. K. Antony, the then Chief of Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral Satish Soni, ambassadors and heads of missions of ASEAN nations. ^[9]

Sudarshini, the second sail training ship of the Indian Navy, has already covered 140,000 nmi (260,000 km; 160,000 mi) until 2025. ^[10]

On 20 January 2026, INS Sudarshini set sail from Kochi, Southern Naval Command for Lokayan 26, a 10-month long transoceanic sail expedition. The deployment will span across 18 ports and 13 countries and a voyage distance of 22,000 nmi (41,000 km; 25,000 mi). The ship will also participate in two tallship events including the Escale à Sète 2026 in France and the Sail 250 in New York Harbor. The Sail 250 event is a special edition to commemorate the United States' 250th Independence anniversary to be held between 4 July and 8 July. The voyage includes the sail training of over 200 Indian Navy and Coast Guard cadets. ^{[10] [11]} She made her first port call at Salalah, Oman as part of Lokayan 26 on 2 February 2026. ^[12]

See also

• Training ships of the Indian Navy
• INS Tarangini
• School ship
• ASEAN–India Commemorative Summit
• ASEAN-India Car Rally 2012

References

1. "Indian Navy Surface Ships - Training vessels". Indian Navy. Retrieved 14 February 2014.
2. "Goa Shipyards Products - Sail Training Ship".
3. "INS Tarangini gets a sister sailship: the INS Sudarshini".
4. "The name Sudarshini at IndiaParenting.com". Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
5. "Indian Navy sailing ship INS Sudarshini hits water". Frontier India. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
6. "Navy commissions INS Sudarshini in its fleet". Sify News. Archived from the original on 12 February 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
7. Anandan, S. (9 September 2012). "India ready to see off Sudarshini on voyage". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
8. INS Sudarshini returns from odyssey on 25 March The Hindu 23 March 2013
9. INS Sudarshini Arrives to Kochi After 6 Months Voyage Archived 6 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Outlook India, 25 March 2013
10. "INS Sudarshini to embark on Transoceanic Sail Expedition - Lokyan 26" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 19 January 2026. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
11. "Indian Navy's Sail Training Ship Sudarshini sets sail for Lokyan 26" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 26 January 2026.
12. "Indian Naval Sail Training Ship INS Sudarshini makes first port call of Lokayan 26 at Salalah, Oman" (Press release). Press Information Bureau. 4 February 2026. Retrieved 6 February 2026.