INS Nistar participates in ‘Pacific Reach’ exercise in Singapore

• Indian Navy's latest indigenously designed and constructed Diving Support Vessel (DSV), INS Nistar made its maiden port call at Changi, Singapore on September 14.

• The ship functioning under the Command and Control of the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet is participating in the multinational exercise ‘Pacific Reach 2025’, which began on September 15.

• Exercise Pacific Reach is being hosted by Singapore. It will see the participation of more than 40 nations as active participants or as observers.

• The week-long harbour phase will involve in-depth discussions on submarine rescue systems, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges (SMEE), medical symposium and cross deck visits between the participating nations.

• The sea phase of the exercise would witness INS Nistar and SRU(E) engaging in multiple intervention and rescue operations with participating assets in South China Sea.

Key points on INS Nistar:

• INS Nistar, the first indigenously designed and constructed Diving Support Vessel, was commissioned into the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam on July 18, 2025.

• The ship serves as the ‘mother ship’ for Deep Submergence Rescue Vessel (DSRV) to rescue and evacuate personnel in case of an emergency in a submarine underwater.

• It is the first of the two Diving Support Vessels being built by Hindustan Shipyard Limited. 

• The ship is highly specialised and can undertake deep-sea diving and rescue operations, a capability with select navies across the globe.

• The warship has been designed and built as per classification rules of the Indian Register of Shipping (IRS).

• The name ‘Nistar’ originates from Sanskrit and it means liberation, rescue or salvation.

• The ship, measuring 118 m with a tonnage of nearly 10,000 tonnes, is installed with state-of-the-art diving equipment and has the capability to undertake deep-sea saturation diving up to 300 m depth.

• It has the capability to undertake deep sea saturation diving up to 300 m depth.

• The ship also has a side diving stage for undertaking diving operations up to 75 m depth.

• It is equipped with a combination of remotely operated vehicles to undertake diver monitoring and salvage operations up to a depth of 1,000m.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)