Kochi: After completing a stint of more than six years at the Andaman and Nicobar Command, INS Investigator, a hydrographic survey ship, has now re-based at Kochi.
The ship is used to undertake hydrographic surveys for the production of navigation charts.
It can also be converted into a 40-bed hospital ship during war or other contingencies, according to the navy.
The ship is fitted with state of art survey equipment, including a deep sea multibeam echosounder, single beam echosounders, side scan sonars and modern survey software suites. The ship was welcomed to Kochi by Rear Admiral R.J. Nadkarni, Chief of Staff, SNC at South Jetty, Naval Base on Wednesday.
The 1900 tonne ship which was built in Calcutta was commissioned into the Indian Navy on January 11 1990. The ship is now commanded by Commander R Abdul Rahiman and has a complement of 20 officers and 200 sailors.
