Coastal security will get further boost with Indian Coast Guard deciding to station its new, all-weather, state-of-the-art ship ICGS Rajdoot here. The vessel will join a fleet of three ships stationed in Mangalore. Rajdoot will be stationed at New Mangalore Port.
The new ship — scheduled to arrive here on Thursday — has state-of-the-the-art weaponry and equipped with advanced communication and navigational systems, and it makes an ideal platform for undertaking multifarious close-coast missions such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue, and medical evacuation possible.
“It is the most advanced ship. It needs very little human interference. It is automated,” Commandant (JG) R. Vijay, Operations Officer, Coast Guard, Mangalore told The Hindu .
A release issued by him said that the special features of the ship include an integrated bridge management system, integrated machinery control system and an integrated gun mount with automated control system, which is capable of knocking down surface and air targets in all-weather conditions by day and night.
The other ships of the Coast Guard based in New Mangalore Port are Kasturba Gandhi, Annie Besant and Savithri Bai Phule.
Rajdoot is the sixth in the series of eight inshore patrol vessels indigenously built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers, Kolkata, where it was commissioned on April 22, 2013.
“The 50-metre-long ship can achieve a maximum speed of 34 knots. The ship has an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 16 knots,” the release said.
It is commanded by Commandant Anupam Rai, a specialist in Maritime Security and Environmental Administration from World Maritime University, Sweden. The ship has a complement of five officers and 34 other ranks. Rajdoot would be under the administrative and operational control of the Commander, Coast Guard Region (West), Mumbai.
The ship would be based here to augment the force level in Karnataka for coastal surveillance and “add punch to the exclusive economic zone patrol,” the release said.
“This will enhance the capability required for continuous vigil along the Karnataka maritime frontiers and to protect nation’s maritime interests,” the release said.
