The national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset

INS Khukri, one of the first indigenously built corvettes, was decommissioned after 32 years of service on Thursday. The solemn ceremony was held at Visakhapatnam.

The national flag, naval ensign, and the decommissioning pennant were lowered at sunset in the presence of Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command.

Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta was the Chief Guest of the ceremony along with some serving and former commanding officers of the ship.

The corvette was built by the Mazagaon Dock Shipbuilders and was commissioned on August 23, 1989. The ship had the distinction of being part of both the Western and Eastern Fleets.

The ship was commissioned in Mumbai in presence of Krishna Chandra Pant, the former defence minister, and Sudha Mulla, wife of late Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla.

Captain Mahendra Nath Mulla was the commanding officer of the ship during the 1971 war. He chose to go down with the ship.

During her service, INS Khukri was commanded by 28 officers and traversed over 6,44,897 nautical miles, equivalent to navigating around the world 30 times or three times the distance between the Earth and the Moon.

The ship was affiliated with the Gorkha Brigade of the Indian Army and Lt General PN Ananthanarayan, SM, President Gorkha Brigade, attended the solemn ceremony.