Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL), a south Goa-based defence shipyard, is in the process of construction of six Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) for the Indian Coast Guard and it plans to launch three OPVs in succession from September – December this year.
Mr. Shekhar Mital, Chairman and Managing Director, GSL indicated this on Wednesday at the handing-over ceremony of the fourth of the 105 m class of Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel (NOPV), ‘INS SUMITRA,’ indigenously designed and built by GSL, to the Indian Navy.
With this, GSL has delivered three OPVs in last ten months, 15 OPVs till date and nine more are under construction, said an official spokesperson of GSL on Thursday.
Mr. Mital said that the first OPV will be ready for delivery as per schedule by October 2015 and all six vessels will be delivered to Indian Coast Guard by November 2017.
GSL is implementing a massive modernisation programme at an outlay of over Rs.700 crores for the production of cutting edge technology warships to meet the requirements of the nation’s Naval defence, he said.
The vessel was handed over by Mr. Shekhar Mital, Chairman and Managing Director, GSL to Cdr Milind Mokashi, Commanding Officer Designate, “INS SUMITRA” in presence of Cmde Saurabh Dev, CEO, HQENC in south Goa.
INS SUMITRA, the Indian Navy’s largest OPV, is fitted with large number of state-of-the-art indigenous electronic, communication and weapon systems. It is considered suitable for monitoring sea lanes of communication, defence of offshore oil installations and other critical offshore national assets. Besides, the vessel can be deployed for escorting high value ships and fleet support operations, said an official spokesperson of GSL on Thursday.
In order to reinforce the country’s maritime defence, four NOPVs were contracted to GSL. The first, second and third of the series of 105 metre class of NOPV — INS SARYU, SUNAYNA and SUMEDHA — were earlier handed over to the Indian Navy by GSL on December 21, 2012, September 2, 2013 and January 14, 2014, respectively.
