Diving Support Craft
Vessels of the Indian Navy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Diving Support Craft (DSC) are a series of 5 small-category diving support vessels being built for the Indian Navy by Titagarh Rail Systems Limited.
DSC A20 at sea | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | DSC class |
| Builders | Titagarh Rail Systems |
| Operators | Indian Navy |
| Cost | |
| Building | 5 |
| Completed | 1 |
| Active | 1 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Diving support craft |
| Displacement | 390 t (380 long tons; 430 short tons) |
| Length | 30 m (98 ft) |
| Beam | 12 m (39 ft) |
| Draught | <2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) |
| Speed | 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) |
| Complement | Diving team |
| Armament | 1 × 12.7 mm SRCG |
History
The ships are designed and equipped with state-of-the-art apparatus to support diving operations in coastal under water environment. The vessels are designed to meet the mission needs of Command Clearance Diving Teams (CCDTs). A contract worth ₹174.77 crore (equivalent to ₹196 crore or US$23 million in 2023) was signed between Titagarh Rail Systems Limited (TRSL) and the Indian Navy on 12 February 2021.[1][2][3][4] Diving support vessels are important for both military and commercial diving. They are used for underwater work such as inspecting and maintaining pipelines, well-heads, and mobile platforms. They will be used for providing diving assistance to all ships inside and close to harbour for underwater repair, maintenance and salvage.[5]
The ships have been indigenously designed and the systems were tested at Naval Science and Technological Laboratory (NSTL) of DRDO.[6] They are 30 m long catamaran hull ships,[7] with a displacement of around 380 tons.[8] The ships are designed with a two-man Re-Compression Chamber (RCC).[9]
The first ship, DSC A20, was delivered on 18 September 2025.[8][10][11] DSC A20 was commissioned on 16 December 2025 at Naval Base, Kochi which will also be its homeport under the Southern Naval Command. It was the 11th ship of the Navy commissioned in the year.[12][13][9]
Ships in the class
| Pennant | Yard Number | Laid Down | Launched | Delivered | Commissioned | Homeport | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Indian Navy | |||||||
| A20 | 325 | 27 January 2022[14] | 31 August 2023[6] | 16 September 2025[8] | 16 December 2025[15] | Kochi | Active |
| A21 | 326 | 5 May 2022[3] | 30 October 2023[5][7] | Launched | |||
| A22 | 327 | 12 August 2022[16] | 13 September 2025[17] | ||||
| A23 | 328 | 17 January 2023[18] | Under construction | ||||
| A24 | 329 | 31 August 2023[6] | |||||