There are around 42 coast guard stations in the country and they will be equally equipped
Commander Coast Guard region Inspector General S.P. Sharma presents a crest to CMD of Hinsudtan Shipyard Limited Rear Admiral N.K. Mishraduring the commissioning of Indian Coast Guard Ship, Rani Durgavati at Indian Coast Guard Jetty in Visakhapatnam
Visakhapatnam: Indian Coast Guard would be inducting around 84 ships and crafts which are under construction at 8 different shipyards to strengthen the coastal security. Indian Coast Guard is fourth largest in the world with 118 ships and 63 aircrafts with over 10,000 officers and men.
Not many of the navies and air forces in the world have such operational assets in their arsenal, said Commander Coast Guard region (East) inspector general S.P. Sharma. “The seas around us have acquired significance not only for free movement of grade and commerce but also for energy need and its security beside exploitation of both living and non living resources.
Protecting India’s interest in its maritime zones during these challenging times warrants us to equip Coast Guard with state of art ships and crafts built by shipyards be it defence PSUs or private. There are around 42 coast guard stations in the country and they would be equally equipped. The inductions of the new ships and aircraft will be done in phased manner,” said Mr Sharma.
He added that the responsibility of the coast guard has increased manifold due to present day security matrix. The technology to a large extent, assisted Coast Guard in its endeavour, however it is constabulary presence of the ships and aircrafts in the maritime zones of India which acts as a deterrence, added Sarma
Meanwhile, HSL CMD N.K. Mishra said, “Like the legendary Queen, ICGS Rani Durgavati, is unique in many ways, said . We have struggled hard, as this is a weight sensitive ship, a domain not treaded by HSL thus far. Our collaboration with Vosper Thorney-croft of Australia went sour and from thereon, it has been a tough battle. At HSL, we did not give up and undertook a detailed weight survey. Though the vessel is still overweight by about 30 tonnes, she attained a top speed in excess of 33 knots,” he said and added that he was not shy to admit that the HSL did go wrong initially, but like the sunken ship which at times becomes a beacon for others, other shipyards handling similar projects have all learnt a lot from our mistakes, he underlined.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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