Visakhapatnam: INS Sahyadri, INS Kadmatt awarded best ships

Visakhapatnam: The Fleet Awards Function 2023 here acknowledged and celebrated the operational achievements of the Eastern Fleet during the past year.

The annual event marked the culmination of the operational campaign cycle of the Eastern Fleet. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta attended as chief guest for the event held on Thursday, hosted by Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh.

A cultural programme was held as part of the awards function and the event culminated with the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, ENC awarding the coveted Best Ship of the Eastern Fleet trophies to INS Sahyadri and INS Kadmatt in their respective categories. INS Delhi and INS Sumedha were adjudged as the most spirited ships.

Emerging from the shadows of Covid-19, the year went by and witnessed a high tempo of operational activities as the Poorvi Beda was deployed within and beyond the Indian Ocean Region for safeguarding our maritime interests. The combat edge of fleet ships was maintained and proven during several practice weapon firings in air, surface and sub-surface domains.

Multiple exercises of varied across the spectrum of naval operations, including amphibious and HADR, were conducted with the participation of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force.

Also, Eastern Fleet ships participated in several bilateral and multilateral exercises such as JIMEX (with Japan), SIMBEX (with Singapore), Indo-Pacific Endeavour (with Australia), RIMPAC, MALABAR and La Perouse to name a few.

Meanwhile, ships from the Eastern Fleet also unfurled the tricolour across the world to commemorate 'Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', while fortifying bridges of friendship with friendly countries.