Indian submarine INS ‘Karanj’ makes goodwill visit to Colombo

An Indian submarine, INS ‘Karanj’, arrived at Colombo port on a goodwill visit yesterday ahead of Sri Lanka’s 76th Independence celebrations today. The submarine was welcomed by the Sri Lanka Navy according to naval traditions at the port.

INS Karanj, the Indian Navy’s third stealth Scorpene-class submarine, was commissioned in 2021 after being built in India with limited external support. The 67.5-metre-long submarine is commanded by Commander Arunabh with a 53-member crew.

The Scorpene is a 2000-tonne conventional-propulsion submarine designed and developed for all types of missions, such as surface vessel warfare, anti-submarine warfare, long-range strikes, special operations, or intelligence gathering, according to the France-based Naval Group, which collaborated with knowledge transfer on the P75 Kalvari programme to deliver entirely ”Made in India” submarines to the Indian Navy.

SLN Spokesman Captain Gayan Wickramasuriya told the Sunday Times that the goodwill visit came as the submarine was moving from India’s west to east. Its last port call was in Mumbai, and the next one will be in Visakhapatnam.

Concluding the official visit, INS ‘Karanj’ will depart Colombo tomorrow. Last June, the Indian submarine INS Vagir visited Colombo port on a formal visit.