India commissions first locally built diving support vessel

The Indian Navy's diving support vessel INS Nistar , which was commissioned on 18 July 2025. (Indian Navy)

India has commissioned its first indigenously designed and constructed diving support vessel.

Named INS Nistar , the vessel was inducted into service at a commissioning ceremony on 18 July, the Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement on the same day.

Nistar was built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited (HSL) and delivered to the Indian Navy at a handover ceremony in Visakhapatnam on 8 July.

In his address at the vessel's commissioning ceremony, the Indian Navy's Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, referred to the induction of Nistar as a “crucial operational enabler”.

“ Nistar will provide critical submarine rescue support to the Indian Navy as well as our regional partners. This will enable India to emerge as a preferred submarine rescue partner in this region,” the admiral said in comments that were published in the MoD's statement.

Nistar is part of a contract for two diving support vessels that was announced by the Indian government in September 2018.

It was laid down by HSL in December 2019 and launched by the same shipbuilder in September 2022.

The vessel has an overall length of 118 m, displaces about 10,000 tonnes, and can support saturation diving operations at depths of up to 300 m. It will host remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that can carry out diver monitoring and salvage missions at depths of up to 1,000 m.

Nistar