MAST & HARBOUR: The ship will join the Coast Guard fleet in May 2019 after extensive tests and trials
A 3,000-tonne displacement training ship, the largest ever built for the Indian Coast Guard, was launched in Pipavav, around 300 km from Ahmedabad, on Wednesday.
Built by Reliance Naval & Engineering Limited, the 105-metre ship was launched by Urmila Singh, wife of Coast Guard director general Rajendra Singh. The Rs 220-crore vessel was named ICGS Varuna by her.
The training ship would be delivered to the Coast Guard in May.
"The ship will join the Coast Guard fleet in May 2019 after extensive tests and trials," Reliance Naval & Engineering's Chief Executive Officer Debashis Bir, said on the occasion.
Director General Rajendra Singh said in his address that the maiden project of the Coast Guard was in line with the Narendra Modi-led government's 'Make in India' policy.
"The primary role of the ship will be to impart sea training to cadets and giving acquaint them to the lives led by Coast Guard officers," RNEL said in a statement.
Apart from the training ship launched on Wednesday, RNEL is building 19 other ships for defence services, including five naval offshore patrol vessels, and 14 fast patrol vessels. Of these, six vessels are expected to be delivered in 2019.
Bir, however, also expressed concern about RNEL's small order book.
"Reliance Naval has the largest ship building facility in India. The shipyard has installed throughput of 1,40,000 tonnes of steel, equivalent to an annual revenue of minimum Rs 4,000 crore. The shipyard presently has a meagre order book of Rs 4,000 crore, which does not justify the huge capital investment in building this most modern shipyard," he said.
The training ship ICGS Varuna
RNEL said that the shipyard is capable of building any size of vessels in the world, including the next 70,000 tonne aircraft carrier for India.
A powerful addition
The training ship has the capacity to accommodate 242 personnel. Powered by twin diesel engines of 10,400 KW, it can move at a speed of 20 knots per hours. The ship is equipped with weapons system, and has 30 mm gun as its main armament.
Officials said that the vessel would be tasked with policing the maritime zones, detecting hostile crafts, and undertaking search and rescue missions. The vessel is capable of operating a twin engine helicopter for long range operations while undertaking marine reconnaissance.
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