India’s First Underwater Warship Museum Project Inaugurated Virtually by CM Devendra Fadnavis in Sindhudurg

 India’s First Underwater Warship Museum Project Inaugurated Virtually by CM Devendra Fadnavis in Sindhudurg

Mumbai, June 10 : A retired Indian Navy warship, INS Guldar, is set to be transformed into India’s first underwater museum, complete with an artificial reef. The project is being developed near Nivati Rock in Vengurla taluka of Sindhudurg district. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the initiative virtually. Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar, Women and Child Development Minister Aditi Tatkare, Tourism Minister Shambhuraj Desai, Fisheries Minister Nitesh Rane, Chief Secretary Sujata Saunik, and other cabinet members were present.

This pioneering initiative in India is expected to boost marine conservation and tourism. The ship will be submerged to create an artificial coral reef around it, enabling scuba diving and submarine tourism in the future. In a historic move, the central government has handed over the decommissioned warship INS Guldar to the Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC) for this purpose. Similar projects exist in several countries worldwide.

The ship was handed over to MTDC free of cost with the approval of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

MTDC Managing Director Manoj Kumar Suryavanshi, General Manager Chandrashekhar Jaiswal, Sindhudurg Collector Anil Patil, Zilla Parishad CEO Manik Dive, and Superintendent of Police Mohan Dahikar participated via video conferencing.

About INS Guldar : The ship weighs 1,120 tons, is 83.9 meters long, 9.7 meters wide, and 5.2 meters deep. It was decommissioned on January 12, 2024. Under the Centre’s “Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment (Part-3)” scheme, the Union Ministry of Tourism approved ₹46.91 crore on December 27, 2024, for converting INS Guldar into an underwater museum and artificial reef near Nivati Rock.

Following a request from MTDC, the Indian Navy transported the ship from Port Blair, Andaman to the Karwar Naval Base, Karnataka at its own expense, thereby saving costs for the Maharashtra government.

Project Implementation Timeline:

• February 22, 2024: MTDC officially took possession of the ship from the Indian Navy at Karwar.
• March 16, 2025: The ship was successfully towed to the Maharashtra Maritime Board jetty at Vijaydurg in Sindhudurg district.
• Environmental Cleaning: A designated agency completed the eco-friendly cleaning of the vessel on April 15, 2025.
• Deployment in the Sea: Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd. has been assigned the task of scuttling (sinking) the ship at its designated site near Nivati Rock (Latitude: 15°56.138’N, Longitude: 73°22.601’E) when weather conditions permit.

Once submerged, the surrounding area will develop artificial coral reefs, allowing tourists to explore the ship through scuba diving and, in the future, via submarine tourism.