INS Darshak completes survey in Mauritius

Visakhapatnam: Indian Naval Ship Darshak completed hydrographic survey in Mauritius.

A ceremonial fair-sheet depicting hydrographic surveys undertaken by Darshak was presented to Seetanah Lutchmeenaraidoo, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade of Mauritius, on Tuesday by Abhay Thakur, high commissioner, accompanied by captain Peush Pawsey Commanding Officer, INS Darshak.

INS Darshak was deployed for a joint hydrographic survey from December 3 to January 3 with the objective of preparing and publishing two new charts of Mauritian waters as per enhanced charting scheme agreed between India and Mauritius.

The resultant products will be a significant step towards enhancing the level of navigational safety for merchant ships visiting Mauritius as they will replace vintage 19th century data around the island of Mauritius.

The surveys will be also be extremely useful for tourism industry based in northern Mauritius as areas of Mon Choisy, Grand Bay and all small islands in the north have been surveyed in a comprehensive manner.

Furthermore, data has been collected for aquaculture site off Anse La Raie and deep sea transacts for scientific research at the request of the Mauritian Oceanographic Institute; and for Deep Ocean Water Application Projects at the request of Continental Shelf Department of the Prime Minister’s Office.

Officials of Mauritius from various organisations related to ocean matters participated in the above survey and benefited from the training during ship’s three sea sorties.

The INS Darshak will also carry out outer island support for St. Brandon and Agalega Islands during its return passage to India.