Fifth Ship of Landing Craft Utility Mk-IV ‘IN LCU L55’ Commissioned in Port Blair

‘IN LCU L55’ was inducted into the Indian Navy at Port Blair on December 19. The ship is fifth in the line of Landing Craft Utility (LCU) Mk-IV class to be inducted into the Indian Navy.

Vice Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P commissioned the vessel in the presence of personnel from the Navy. Lt Cdr Abhishek Kumar is the commanding officer of the ship and it has a complement of 05 officers, 45 sailors and is capable of carrying 160 troops in addition.

The vessel is an amphibious ship capable of transporting and deploying Main Battle Tanks, Armoured Vehicles, troops and equipment from ship to shore. Beaching operations, search and rescue, disaster relief operations, supply and replenishment and evacuation from distant islands are other roles that can be performed by this vessel.




Displacing 830 tonnes, the ship is capable of transporting various kinds of combat equipment such as the Main Battle Tank – T72 and other vehicles. The ship is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and advanced systems like Integrated Bridge System (IBS) and Integrated Platform Management System (IPMS).

The ship has been indigenously designed and built by M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata. The Commissioning of IN LCU L55 is yet another proof of the country’s highly capable indigenous design and ship building capability.

The remaining three ships of the same class are in advanced stages of construction at M/S GRSE, Kolkata and are scheduled to be inducted over the next year and a half.