Defence Minister Launches Indigenous Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel at GSL

Vasco: The 1st Vessel of the indigenous Project for 05 Offshore Patrol Vessels for Indian Coast Guard was launched by the Defence Minister Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman on 21 Feb 2019 at Goa Shipyard Limited and named the vessel as ‘Sachet’. The Vessel was launched in presence of Union Minister of State for AYUSH Shri Shripad Naik, Member of Rajya Sabha, Shri Vinay D Tendulkar, Director General Coast Guard - Shri Rajendra Singh, PTM, TM, Coast Guard Commander (Western Seaboard) – ADG K Natarajan, PTM, TM, Flag Officer Goa Area Rear Admiral Philipose G Pynumootil, NM, Chairman and Managing Director of Goa Shipyard Limited - Commodore BB Nagpal, and various other dignitaries.

 

Recognising the excellent efforts and achievements of Goa Shipyard, Raksha Mantri congratulated the personnel of Goa Shipyard and Coast Guard for the launching of the Vessel. She acknowledged that tremendous contribution of Goa Shipyard in indigenous shipbuilding, catering to the acquisition requirements of the Indian maritime forces. She also commended the efforts of Shipyard in the export of 02 Advanced OPVs to Sri Lanka and 02 FPVs and 11 FICs to Mauritius. She further stressed on the need to capitalize on the consistent superior production performance of Shipyard and cater for the captive requirements of Indian Defence Services and also reach out for exports. She also assured full support of the Ministry of defence in all the endeavours of the Shipyard. 

Speaking on the occasion DGCG Shri Rajendra Singh also praised GSL for its professionalism in persistent delivery of quality ships, within the contractual delivery timelines. He lauded that bonhomie and partnership between Coast Guard and GSL in design and construction of the significant number of vessels for the Indian Coast Guard.

 

On this Occasion Cmde BB Nagpal, CMD GSL said 'In line with the Shipyard’s tradition of delivering on time, we are confident to deliver the 1st Vessel, launched today, by Jan 2019, in less than 3 years from keel laying. Our endevour has been to maximise the indigenous content on these ships and I am happy to state that more than 70% indigenisation has been achieved for these ships.” Expressing his gratitude to the Hon’ble Raksha Mantri and Ministry of Defence, CMD said “We are extremely thankful to MoD for entrusting Goa Shipyard with the construction of 02 Frigates for the Indian Navy and assure that the project will be delivered in time.'