Kolkata, July 1 (IANS): Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd, a Defence Public Sector Undertaking (DPSU) that has delivered a record 109 warships to India's maritime security forces, signed an agreement with the Directorate General, Defence Purchase of Bangladesh’s Ministry of Defence.

The agreement is for the construction of an advanced Ocean-Going Tug and the order is worth US$ 21 million and the vessel is to be completed in 24 months.

The agreement highlights GRSE's continuing efforts towards bagging export orders. The shipyard is the first one in India to export a warship to Mauritius.

In 2023, it also delivered a passenger-cum-cargo ocean-going ferry to Guyana.

A few weeks ago, GRSE signed a contract with Bangladesh for the delivery of a Trailing Suction Hopper (TSH) dredger.

On June 22, 2024, GRSE entered into a contract with a German company for the delivery of at least four multi-purpose cargo vessels.

The overall length (LOA) of the tug will be nearly 61 metres, and the vessel will be about 15.80 metres wide with a depth of nearly 6.80 metres. The tug's draught requirement with a full load will be around 4.80 metres while it's bollard pull capacity will be 76 tons ahead and 50 tons astern. The ship's maximum speed with a full load will be at least 13 knots, the company revealed in a statement.

Cdr Shantanu Bose, IN (Retd), director (shipbuilding), GRSE, and Cmde AKM Maruf Hassan, director purchase (Navy), Directorate General Defence Purchase, Ministry of Defence, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh were present during the signing of the agreement.

The tug's primary roles will include towing of ships at sea, both alongside and astern, assist them during berthing and casting off as well as help them in turning through pushing and pulling.

The vessel will also have the capability to carry out rescue and salvage operations at sea. Its secondary roles will be to provide firefighting support to ships at sea and limited pollution control measures.

The platform will be extremely robust with a capability to operate even at sea state 5 (wind speeds of 17-21 knots and wave heights of 2-3 metres) with dynamic positioning - 2 system capability.

This is an advanced computer-controlled system that allows a ship to maintain its heading and position without the use of mooring lines or anchors.