INS Vikrant: Sentinel of the Seas

A nation's strength is not only measured on its borders, but on the open ocean — in its ability to project power, protect its trade, and answer threats far from home. For India, much of that ambition now sails under one name: INS Vikrant.

My poem The Silent Depths honours the sailors and commandos of the deep. This is the story of the great ship they sail with.

An honoured name reborn

The name Vikrant — "courageous" — carries history. The original INS Vikrant, India's first aircraft carrier, played a decisive role in the 1971 war, enforcing a blockade of the eastern seaboard. When it was retired, the name was destined to return on something even greater.^[1]

On 2 September 2022, the new INS Vikrant was commissioned — India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier, constructed at Cochin Shipyard. At around 45,000 tonnes, it placed India among the very small club of nations able to build their own carriers.^[1]

Their resolve flows as the tides endure, bound to a nation, steadfast and pure.

A blue-water navy

A carrier is more than a ship; it is a moving airfield, a floating piece of sovereign territory that can sail to wherever the nation's interests lie. With Vikrant, India strengthened its standing as a blue-water navy — one capable of operating across the great oceans, from the Indian Ocean to far beyond.

That matters more than ever. The seas carry the world's trade and the nation's energy; a strong navy keeps those lifelines open and deters those who would threaten them.

Self-reliance, made of steel

Perhaps the deepest significance of Vikrant is that India built it. In an age of "Atmanirbhar Bharat" — self-reliant India — a home-built carrier is a statement that the nation can forge its own shield rather than buy it.^[2]

Behind the engineering, though, are the people my poems are really about: the sailors who will spend months at sea, the commandos who launch from its decks into the dark, the families who wait ashore. The ship is steel. Its courage is human. "As sentinels eternal, of the nation's keep."