Garden Reach Shipbuilders signed an MoU with Norway’s Kongsberg to build India’s first-ever Polar Research Vessel.
A Polar Research Vessel is a special ship that helps scientists travel through ice and study the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
The deets: the vessel will be constructed at Garden Reach’s Kolkata shipyard and developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, which will use it for missions in the Arctic, Antarctic, and southern oceans.
The MoU gives Garden Reach access to global polar ship design expertise while drawing on its own experience building complex warships and research vessels.
Why it matters: this marks a big step in India’s scientific and strategic push into the polar regions. Currently, India rents foreign vessels for its missions but this deal will help build self-reliance in extreme-weather exploration.
