Indian Coast Guard (ICG) today commissioned a pollution control vessel ICGS Samudra Pavak at Porbandar to help deal with any eventuality created by the oil spill.
"'Samudra Pavak' is a projection of Indian Coast Guard's will and commitment to serve and protect the maritime interest of the nation," ICG said in a statement.
The ship was commissioned at Porbandar by Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar.
"The basing of the pollution control vessel at Porbandar is an imperative necessitated by its proximity to the oil bearing regions and the fragile marine biodiversity," it said.
According to the statement, the Gulf of Kutch with its rich biodiversity, living resources, fisheries, coral reefs and mangrove vegetation, and swampy lands around the coast produces 71 per cent of the nation's common salt, consequent high vulnerability of environment merits the positioning of the Pollution Response Vessel for prompt response to any oil spill contingencies.
The ship is equipped with the advanced pollution response and control equipment for mitigating oil spill in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of India.
It can also perform activities like oil containment, recovery, oil separation and dispersion of pollutants. The availability of two rigid sweeping arms enables containment of oil spill in motion as well, the statement said.
"The ship, on joining the Coast Guard fleet will be based at Porbandar. She will be deployed extensively for EEZ surveillance. The vessel will strengthen the security umbrella over 1,600 km long coast of Gujarat," it added.
Vice Admiral HCS Bisht, Director General Indian Coast Guard ADG SPS Basra and Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard) Rishi Agarwal were present during the event.
(Reopens BOM13)
Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff will be the
chief guest for the September 17 function.
"Today, with P15A class guided missile destroyers (Kolkata class) achieving very high level of technology and capability, Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited is also constructing four follow-on destroyers, christened as P-15B.
"Detailed design of the futuristic stealth frigates, P17A is currently in progress with. Work on this will commence in early 2017. This will be the first time MDL will be using the integrated construction methodology by leveraging the new infrastructure in the yard.
"This will be a paradigm shift in the way ships will be built in India in the years to come," the spokesperson said.
MDL is also constructing six Scorpene class submarines for the Indian Navy under a transfer of technology from DCNS of France. The first boat in this class, Kalvari, will be commissioned into the fleet soon. The launch of the second boat is slated later this year.
The yard is now ready with the augmented facility created recently for a second line of submarines.
For the first time in its history, Mazagon Dock in 2015-16 achieved a value of production (VOP) above Rs 4,000 crore with an operating profit of Rs 218 crore.
