Cochin Shipyard Ltd has launched the second fast patrol vessel being built for the Indian Coast Guard.
The vessel named Abheek is the second in a series of 20 numbers FPVs contracted by CSL for the ICG. The contract was signed in 2010 with delivery of the last vessel slated for 2017.
A press release issued here said that the launch was a visual spectacle in its innovativeness. With the indigenous aircraft carrier occupying the building dock, the FPV weighing 120 tonnes placed on specially designed cradles at the dock head hoisted by the gantry crane and transported over the entire length of the IAC, before being lowered into the water.
This unique method is another example of the yard’s quest to find innovative solutions, the release said.
The vessels are being built under the dual classification requirements of ABS and IRS. The 50 metre x 7.6 metre x 4.65 metre vessels have a designed speed of 33 knots.
The primary role of the vessel include fisheries protection and monitoring, patrol within exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and coastal patrol, anti smuggling, search and rescue operations and for anti piracy operations.
The vessels have a secondary role of providing communication link and escort convoys during hostilities and war time, the release added.
The yard has 26 ships on order consisting of 20 FPV’s, 4 offshore support ships for Indian and foreign owners, 1 Buoy Tender vessel for the Department of Lighthouses and Lightships and the prestigious Aircraft Carrier for the Indian Navy.