Keel laying ceremony for the Second New Class Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), indigenously designed and in–house built by Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) for the Indian Coast Guard, was held at GSL on 28th Jan 2013.
The keel laying ceremony for the Second of the New Class OPV comes on the heels of commissioning of the Indian Navy’s largest Patrol vessel ‘INS Saryu’ at GSL on 21st January 2013.
It is noteworthy that the contract for the construction of six OPVs for the Indian Coast Guard was signed on 9th May 2012. The first keel laying ceremony to mark the commencement of the series construction of the new class of OPVs for the Indian Coast Guard was held at GSL on 28th September 2012.
These vessels for the Indian Coast Guard are based on in-house design of Goa Shipyard Ltd. When commissioned, these vessels will be the most advanced Patrol Vessels in service with the Indian Coast Guard.
VAdm MP Muralidharan AVSM & Bar, NM Director General Indian Coast Guard, did the honours in the presence of RAdm (Retd) Vineet Bakhshi VSM, Chairman and Managing Director, GSL, IG SPS Basra YSM, PTM, TM, Commander Indian Coast Guard Region ( West), DIG S D Bhanot ,TM COMDIS(Goa) , Senior officials of the Coast Guard and GSL.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, January 29, 2013; Image: Goa Shipyard