Kochi: The Cochin Shipyard Ltd has completed the delivery of 20 fast patrol vessels for the Indian Coast Guard three months ahead of schedule.
The work was awarded to CSL in 2010 and the shipyard supplied the first vessel after three years in 2013. Thereafter, the CLS supplied the vessels within two months’ interval and gave them ahead of schedule from the 13th vessel onwards.
The 20th fast patrol vessel named ICGS Ayush, the last in the series, was given on Friday, three months ahead of the scheduled date.
The delivery and acceptance was signed between Mr N.V. Suresh Babu, Director (Operations), CSL, and Commandant (JG) Asheesh Sharma, Commanding Officer (Designate) of the vessel, in the presence of Madhu S. Nair, Chairman and Managing Director, DIG Arun Shrivastav, Coast Guard and other senior officials.
These vessels with a length of 50 metres and a beam of 7.6 metres are small in size compared to the large ones that CSL had been building.
The designing and building these ships had posed challenges to the yard as these are extremely weight sensitive.
The CSL has achieved excellent weight control on these ships right through the building process resulting in the difference between the design weight and actual weight.
All the vessels have achieved speeds in excess of the contracted speed and surpassed the expectations of Indian Coast Guard with regard to performance, a CSL release said.
The fast patrol vessels help in securing Indian waters by patrolling within the Exclusive Economic Zone, coastal patrol, carrying out anti-smuggling, anti-piracy, search and rescue operations and for fisheries protection and monitoring.
The ship will also play a secondary role of providing a communication link and escort coastal convoys in times of hostilities and war.
