Indian Coast Guard Inducts New OPV Vijit

ICGS “ VIJIT ”, the second of the new class of Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) indigenously designed in house and built by Goa Shipyard Ltd will be formally commissioned in Indian Coast Guard by Shri M.M. Pallam Raju Hon’ble Raksha Rajya Mantri on 11 December 2010 . The commissioning ceremony will be held at Goa Shipyard Ltd, Goa. The ship being commissioned is a testimony of GSL’s commitment to the indigenization process.Significantly, within a span of nine months GSL has delivered two offshore patrol vessels of this new 90m class to the Indian Coast Guard. The first vessel ICGS ‘’Vishwast’’ was commissioned on 17 March 2010.The commissioning of the OPV ICGS “VIJIT” comes on the heels of the launching of 105 meter Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel on 6th Dec 2010.  This state-of –the art offshore patrol vessel, 90 meter in length has an Integrated Bridge System (IBS) equipped with a contemporary navigation and communication equipement and is also provided with a Platform Management System. Propelled by two MTU engines, this vessel is capable of 26 knots and an endurance of 4500 nautical miles. The vessel is also equipped with a 30 mm gun to counter undesirable intruders and is fitted out for helicopter operation.She is the only vessel of this class in the world with the large range of capabilities for Pollution Control, Fire Fighting, Search & Rescue, Surveillance and Patrol provided in a 90 meter vessel.ICGS “ Vijt” will join the fleet after commissioning and shall be deployed extensively for safety of the nation’s maritime zones and offshore assets.  GSL had earlier built 105 M Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel ( AOPV) project for Indian Coast Guard, the largest ever designed and constructed AOPV class of vessel in India. GSL has developed 5 variants for Patrol Vessels ranging from 50 Mtr to 105 Mtr and speeds ranging from 25Kn to 35 Kn . While Two series of these have been delivered to customers and are in active service, this 90 M OPV is the latest induction from GSL product to join the Coast Guard Fleet. GSL is also developing the designs for ships of 75 Mtr and 115 Mtr lengths for varied applications.GSL has built 188 ships including Offshore Patrol Vessels, Missile Craft, Survey Vessels, Sail Training Ship, Fast Patrol Vessels, Extra Fast Attach Craft, Offshore supply vessels and over 100 Glass Reinforced Plastic Fast Interceptor Boasts for the nation.