PARADIP: Naval warships anchored off Paradip as part of the Navy Week celebrations drew visitors in droves on Saturday. Six naval warships - INS Ranjit, INS Ranvir, INS Karmuk, INS Kuthar, INS Airvat and INS Sivaloga - were thrown open to public by Navy to create an awareness on the activities of Indian Navy. The ships were brought in from the Eastern Fleet under the Eastern Naval Command (ENC) based in Visakhapatnam. Navy sources said INS Ranvir is the Navy’s Kashin II-class destroyer and the fourth of the five Rajput Class destroyers, commissioned in 1986. The Brahmos Supersonic Cruise missile was successfully tested off INS Ranvir from a universal vertical launcher in 2009. Warships have formidable array of weapons, sensors and anti-ship sea skimming missiles in their armouries. The INS Airavat is capable of launching an assault wave comprising 250 troops, 15 to 20 tanks and other vehicles at an enemy coast. She was commissioned at the ENC in Visakhapatnam on May 19, 2009, by the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta. To a query on how the ship got its name, officials said she is named after the mount of God Indra, the elephant Airavata, as mentioned in the Rigveda. It was indeed a rare opportunity for thousands of people, who had come from across the district and its nearby areas, to get to see warships. “Boarding these warships is a new experience for me. Many like me had never seen a ship and it is a lifetime experience for them,’’ said Satyapraksh Sahu, a student. A Navy official said the warships are used for patrolling exclusive economic zones and carrying out anti-piracy missions during peacetime.
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