INS Mangrol commissioning is set for Monday at Naval Dockyard, Mumbai, where the third Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Craft (ASW-SWC) built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi, will formally join the Indian Navy.

Vice Admiral Sanjay Vatsayan, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, will preside over the ceremony. Senior naval and defence officials, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and CSL, veterans and representatives of the Indian firms that supplied the ship's weapons and sensors are expected to attend.

INS Mangrol commissioning brings third CSL craft into service

More than 80 percent of the ship is indigenous. According to the Navy, Mangrol was designed and built in India, with its weapons and sensors integrated at home, under the Government's Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives. Cochin Shipyard Limited handed the ship over to the Navy on 21 August, and Monday's ceremony is the final step before she sails as a commissioned warship.

Sonar, torpedoes and rockets for the underwater hunt

The ship's main job is to find and counter submarines in coastal and shallow waters. Her sensor and weapon fit includes the Abhay Hull-Mounted Sonar, lightweight torpedoes, an indigenous anti-submarine rocket launcher and the Mareech Advanced Torpedo Decoy System, which protects the ship from incoming torpedoes.

Three diesel engines drive waterjets. That arrangement gives her the agility to manoeuvre in shallow water.

Working close to the coast where larger warships are limited

Beyond submarine hunting, Mangrol can carry out underwater surveillance, Low-Intensity Maritime Operations and mine warfare-related tasks. The Navy said the ship is meant for coastal waters where larger warships face operational limits. She can operate alongside maritime patrol aircraft, helicopters and other warships to detect and counter submarines, and her induction adds to the protection of ports, harbours and coastal approaches while supporting wider Indian Navy fleet operations.

Ship named after Gujarat fishing harbour

Mangrol is a coastal town and a prominent fishing harbour in the Junagadh district of Gujarat.

The name also has naval history. The earlier INS Mangrol (M85), a minesweeper, served the Navy until 7 April 2004, and the new ship carries that name forward in line with the Navy's practice of keeping the names of its former warships in service.

Third of eight Mahe class craft from Cochin Shipyard

Mangrol will be commissioned at the same dockyard as Mahe, the lead ship of the class, which joined the Navy in Mumbai in November 2025. The second CSL craft, Malvan, was commissioned at INS Kadamba, Karwar, on 22 July, the first Indian naval ship commissioned at Karwar. According to the Ministry of Defence release issued that day, the ASW-SWC role covers underwater surveillance, anti-submarine warfare, low-intensity maritime operations and mine warfare.

The INS Mangrol commissioning takes the Navy's ASW-SWC programme a step further. Sixteen craft are on order, eight each from CSL and Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata. On 29 July, CSL launched Machilipatnam, the seventh of its eight craft.