Visakhapatnam: INS Sahyadri and INS Kadmatt awarded best ships of the Eastern Fleet trophies

Visakhapatnam: The Fleet Awards Function 2023 was held in Visakhapatnam to acknowledge and celebrate the operational achievements of the Eastern Fleet during the past year.

The annual event marks culmination of the operational campaign cycle of the Eastern Fleet. Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command attended as chief guest for the event, hosted by Rear Admiral Gurcharan Singh, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

A cultural programme was organised as part of the award presentation ceremony and the event culminated with the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command awarding the coveted Best Ship of the Eastern Fleet trophies to INS Sahyadri and INS Kadmatt in their respective categories. INS Delhi and INS Sumedha were adjudged as the most spirited ships.

Emerging from of the shadows of COVID 19, the year gone by witnessed a high tempo of operational activities as the Poorvi Beda was deployed within and beyond the Indian Ocean Region for safeguarding our maritime interests. The combat edge of fleet ships was maintained and proven during several practice weapon firings in air, surface and sub-surface domains. Multiple exercises of varied across the spectrum of naval operations, including amphibious and HADR, were conducted with participation of the Indian Army and Indian Air Force. Eastern Fleet ships also participated in several bilateral and multilateral exercises such as JIMEX (with Japan), SIMBEX (with Singapore), Indo-Pacific Endeavour (with Australia), RIMPAC, MALABAR and La Perouse to name a few.