INS ''Sukanya'' is the lead vessel of the s of the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy (IN) (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the Navy, maritime and Amphibious warfare, amphibious branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of the Naval Staff (India), Chief ...

. In Sanatan Dharma,

Sukanya Sukanya () is a princess In Hindu mythology. She is the daughter of Sharyati, the son of Vaivasvata Manu, and the wife of the sage Chyavana. Legend Marriage According to the narrative found in the Vana Parva of the Mahabharata, Sage Chya ...

was the daughter of Shryayati, son of

Vaivasvata Manu Vaivasvata Manu (), also referred to as Shraddhadeva and Satyavrata, is the current Manu—the progenitor of the human race. He is the seventh of the 14 Manus of the current kalpa (aeon) of Hindu cosmology. In the Jain religion he is also kno ...

and the wife of the great sage

Chyavana Chyavana () was a sage (rishi) in Hinduism. He was a son of Bhrigu, also known as Bhrigu Varuni in the Upanishads, and is known for his rejuvenation through a special herbal paste (ayurvedic jam) or tonic known as '' chyavanaprasham'', which ...

. It was commissioned into service on 31 August 1989.

Service history

In 2006, INS ''Sukanya'' served as the

Presidential yacht Presidential yacht may refer to a vessel of a country's navy that would be specially used by the country's president. It is common for a vessel to be designated as the presidential yacht during a fleet review. Some countries (below) have vessels ...

for the 2006 Naval Fleet Review. In February 2010, ''Sukanya'' escorted the

Maldivian Coast Guard The Maldivian Coast Guard is the naval or maritime arm of the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF). Because the Maldives does not have a navy, the MNDF Coast Guard functions as the armed maritime force of the nation with a charter to contribute ...

vessel home via

Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. ''Huravee'' was returning home after a refit in India. On 20 and 24 September 2011,

pirate Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

s in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

attempted to approach vessels being escorted by INS ''Sukanya''. The attack was warded off and the pirates disarmed by a team of marine commandos. Indian Navy officials seized three rifles, eight magazines and about 320 rounds of ammunition from the pirate boat with 14 pirates. Ladders and

grapnels A grappling hook or grapnel is a device that typically has multiple hooks (known as ''claws'' or ''flukes'') attached to a rope or cable; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may cat ...

used by pirates to board merchant vessels were recovered. The boat was carrying a large quantity of fuel and LPG cylinders, in addition to communication and navigation equipment. This was the fourth time INS ''Sukanya'' thwarted a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden. On 11 November 2011, ''Sukanya'' again thwarted piracy attempts near the Gulf of Aden. In December 2014, a fire damaged the only de-salination plant in

Maldives The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...

plunging it into a severe water crisis. On 4 December 2014, ''Sukanya'' led by Commander M. Dorai Babu, NM, while patrolling off

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

, was immediately diverted to Maldives. The ship had two de-salination plants on board with capacity to produce 20 tonnes of fresh water daily which were used to avert the water crisis.

References

Sukanya-class patrol vessels 1989 ships {{mil-ship-stub