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INS Koswari — the ninth indigenously built fast-track attack craft of the Indian Navy built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Ltd of Kolkata, was commissioned here on Tuesday by Lt. General Bikram Singh, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command of the Indian Army, at the naval base.
Vice-Admiral Anup Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Naval Command, and Rear-Admiral (retd) K.C Sekhar, CMD of GRSE, along with senior naval officials participated in the function. Rear-Admiral Sekhar said that the craft, named after an island off Tuticorin, measuring 52 meters in length and displacing 325 tonnes, can achieve speeds in excess of 30 knots. The ship, with a complement of four officers and 35 sailors, was built for extended coastal and offshore surveillance and patrol, with advanced MTU engines and the latest communication sets. It would be based at Karwar, for coastal patrol and anti-piracy operations, along the Konkan coast and the Lakshadweep group of islands.
He said the ability of the craft to operate in shallow waters at high speeds, its day-night surveillance capability and enhanced fire power would giver the required impetus to combating threats emanating from the sea. “This design is comparable with any of the fast patrol vessels built abroad. These ships are cost-effective, fuel-efficient, powerful and well-suited for patrolling, anti-smuggling operations, and rescue operations,” he said.
The Navy had placed the order for building and supply of 10 such fast track attack craft in 2006 and nine of them had been delivered and commissioned. The eighth in the series, INS Kabra, was commissioned at Kochi on June 16 and INS Koswari was the ninth. Rear-Admiral Sekhar said the GRSE's ship-building capacity had been enhanced substantially and it had embarked upon an extensive modernisation plan of its main unit. Phased improvement of production facilities at the Raja Bagan dockyard was going on and the GRSE was expecting more orders from the Navy to utilise fully its warship building capacity, he added. The construction time would be reduced, he said.
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