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Updated: Feb 17, 2018 17:50 IST

A Scotland-based company expects to supply two third-generation deep search and rescue vehicles (DSRVs) to the Indian Navy by June following the successful completion of harbour acceptance trials.

The two complete flyaway submarine rescue vehicles are to be delivered under a £193-million contract awarded to JFD, a leading underwater capability provider, in March 2016.

The systems include launch and recovery systems equipment, “transfer under pressure” systems, and all logistics and support equipment required to operate the DSRVs.

“The initial harbour acceptance trials of the first DSRV, which were undertaken at Glasgow’s King George V dock, are now complete. As part of this process the system has been comprehensively tested in a variety of conditions,” JFD said in a statement this week.

Following the harbour acceptance trials, the DSRV will be fully integrated with the rest of the rescue system at a site in Glasgow, including the offshore handling system, intervention suite and 90-person decompression facilities.

Ben Sharples, India DSRV project director at JFD, said: “The completion of the initial harbour acceptance trials for the first DSRV, to be delivered to the Indian Navy, is an important step in the delivery of this contract.

“This is part of the progressive acceptance of the system designed to drive out risk during the later stages of sea acceptance.”

Sharples added that the third-generation DSRV marked a significant step-change in real world submarine rescue capability with its weight optimised for maximum payload and optimum transportability.

JFD said the system had been developed to maximise the chances of successfully rescuing the crew of a distressed submarine. The full certified systems are due to be delivered to Indian Navy in June, it said.

A total of 72 Indian Navy personnel have also been trained by JFD at a facility in Scotland to operate the vessels. The Indian Navy, which operates a mix of Russian and Western submarines, has for long projected a need for deep sea rescue vessels to cope with possible accidents.