The maritime security of India has got another significant fillip with the induction of the fourth in the series of the new 105M Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) “ICGS SHAUNAK” in the Indian Coast Guard, built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) using its in-house design. Hon’ble Railway Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu dedicated ICGS “SHAUNAK”, the largest and most advanced new generation OPV to the Nation at an impressive ceremony held at GSL on 21st February 2017 in the distinguished presence of Director General Coast Guard Rajendra Singh and other dignitaries.
The induction of “ICGS SHAUNAK” will help meet the increasing requirement of the Indian Coast Guard for undertaking Policing and Patrolling of the vast Indian Exclusive Economic Zone. The ship has state of the art propulsion/ machinery controls for ease of operation, advanced EW and electronic systems and guns.
Hon’ble Railway Minister, Shri Suresh Prabhu Singh stated that induction of this ship will boost the maritime security of the country, which is becoming more important day by day with the growth of Indian economy. Railway Minister said “The Coast Guard, with its various activities, has won the trust of not only the Coastal people but also the whole nation, which will help strengthening nation’s overall security. Induction of such vessels will also help conserve the bio-diversity of our seas.”
Significantly, this Vessel has registered excellent performance at sea during trials, clearing all trial parameters comfortably and achieving over 26 Knot speed, as against contractual speed of 23 knots. Despite 5.35% higher displacement as compared to previous ships, fuel efficiency is improved by 16.36%, endurance is increased by 14% besides much improved crew-comfort, ergonomics and head space etc. It has 18% smaller turning circle diameter, thereby providing improved maneuverability for the vessel and capability to get into combat position expeditiously.
RAdm Shekhar Mital, NM, IN (Retd) CMD, GSL who is credited with the remarkable turnaround of the shipyard in last 3 years highlighted “GSL has delivered 04 OPVs to Coast Guard in last 16 Months, all ahead of schedule. This ship has been delivered 62 days ahead of schedule and has taken 3 years to build. There are very few parallels of this kind of delivery and execution performance that exist, in Indian ship building industry and compares favorably with International Shipbuilding standards”.
Addressing the gathering, Director General Coast Guard Rajendra Singh highlighted the strong symbiotic relationship of mutual cooperation between Goa Shipyard and Coast Guard and stated that the excellent quality of the OPVs delivered by GSL are testimony to its innate capability and strong commitment to Customers, which has gone a long way in assisting Coast Guard achieve its Capital Expansion plan.
ADG K Natrajan, Commander Western Seaboard, FOGA RAdm. Puneet Bahl, Directors Mr S P Raikar, Mr T N Sudhakar, Cmde B B Nagpal and Senior Officials of GSL and Coast Guard, Government, were also present during the Commissioning ceremony.
GSL PRESS NOTE
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