An indigenously built warship equipped with a range of high-tech missiles was launched today with Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba saying the stealth destroyer can be compared with the best vessels in the world.

Christened ‘Mormugao’, the vessel has been built by the government-run Mazgaon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDL) and belongs to the Visakhapatnam class of ships being constructed under Project 15B.

Admiral Lanba’s wife Reena launched the bedecked ship at a function at MDL here at 11.58 am and it was released into the Arabian Sea for the first time. The vessel will undergo certain testings required by the Indian Navy and would be subsequently known as INS Mormugao.

Four more such destroyers would be built and delivered by MDL during 2020-2024, the PSU said in a statement.

The first ship of the Visakhapatnam class was launched on April 20, 2015.

Mormugao has a displacement of 7,300 tonnes with a maximum speed of over 30 knots. The warship is equipped with surface- to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles and anti-submarine rocket launchers. It is also capable of carrying two anti-submarine warfare helicopters.

Addressing the function before the launch, Admiral Lanba said, “This ship serves the Make in India drive of the country as it is indigenously built.”

“It secures the sea in a better way. The contract for this ship was signed on January 2011. It can be compared with the best ships in the world and has been developed by our own designers at DRDO as well as other government agencies and private companies,” he said.

There is a pressing need to build more such ships and reduce the construction period of future vessels, the Navy chief said.

Admiral Lanba said the Indian Navy and MDL have been building ships together since 1960.

MDL is the only dock in the country that has the capability to build submarines.

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