On 27 October 2026, a brand-new guardian of India’s seas touched water for the first time. At Goa Shipyard Limited’s yard in Vaddem, Vasco da Gama, the Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessel Srishti — Yard 1283 — slid down the slipway dressed in marigold garlands, watched by naval officers, shipyard workers and senior officials. It was the moment a hull built entirely in India became a ship.
Srishti is a big ship with a long reach. She stretches around 113 to 114 metres, with a beam of 14.6 metres and a displacement of 2,700 to 3,000 tonnes, and the shipyard puts her endurance at roughly 8,500 nautical miles at cruising speed. That staying power is the whole point of her job: patrolling far from shore for long stretches, keeping watch over India’s coastline, its offshore assets and the sea lanes that carry its trade.
Srishti on the slipway at Goa Shipyard, dressed in marigold garlands for her launch on 27 October 2026. (Image: ANI / Goa Shipyard)
Her missions read like a watchlist for a maritime nation: maritime surveillance, search and rescue, protection of offshore assets, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, and anti-piracy patrols. The Indian Navy calls these vessels its “Sentinels of the Seas” — the steady, everyday presence that keeps frontline warships free for combat tasks while the patrol fleet holds the watch.
The name carries its own poetry. Srishti means “creation” in Sanskrit, and the ship’s crest pairs the constellation of Ursa Major with a red-and-white lighthouse — a nod to guidance, watchfulness and safe passage. Her keel was laid on 9 June 2025, and just over sixteen months later she was afloat.
Srishti is one of eleven Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels ordered by the Ministry of Defence on 30 March 2023 in a programme worth around ₹9,781 crore. Goa Shipyard is building seven of the ships, while Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers in Kolkata is building the other four — and the programme is gathering pace on both coasts, with GRSE’s Shruti launched in August and Shreyas in October. The shipyard says the programme will generate around 110 lakh person-days of employment across its run, spreading skilled work deep into India’s industrial base.
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The launch ceremony followed naval tradition. Sandeepa Sahay ceremonially launched the vessel, with Vishvajit Sahay, Secretary (Defence Finance), as chief guest, alongside senior officials from the Indian Navy, the Ministry of Defence and the shipyard. Goa Shipyard’s Chairman and Managing Director, Brajesh Kumar Upadhyay, said each such milestone strengthens the yard’s role in India’s defence manufacturing ecosystem and moves the country closer to self-reliance in defence production.
Now Srishti’s journey to the fleet continues with outfitting, systems integration and trials — the careful work that turns a floating hull into a fully armed, fully crewed warship. From keel-laying to launch in barely sixteen months, she is already a showcase of what Indian shipbuilding can do. Soon, one more Indian-built sentinel will be standing watch over India’s seas.
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