The first of the series of 20 Fast Patrol Vessels, designed and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard, was commissioned today.
Vice Admiral Satish Soni, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Naval Command, was the Chief Guest at the commissioning ceremony.
The Vice Admiral stressed the need for synergy among all stake-holders of coastal security to ensure that events like the Mumbai terror attack of November, 2008, never ever happened. He also described the Coast Guard as one of the most internationallly acclaimed organisations.
Commodore (Retd) K Subramaniam Chairman and Managing Director of CSL spoke of the importance his yard attached to orders from the Coast Guard at a time when ship-building industry was going through difficult times.
Two ships of the class have been delivered to the Coast Guard and the third would also be delivered by the end of the month, he said.
The 50m long indigenous Fast Patrol vessel 'Aadesh' displaces 290 tonnes and can achieve a maximum speed of 33 knots with water jet propulsion. It has an endurance of 1500 nautical miles.
Equipped with modern weaponry and advanced communication and navigation suite, FPVs special features include an integrated bridge management system and integrated machine control system.
The ship commanded by Commandant S R Nagendran would be based at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu and has a complement of five Officers and 34 men.
Commander Coast Guard Region West Inspector General S P S Basra also spoke.
