Indian Coast Guard commissions 3 units on consecutive days

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The Coast Guard has scored a hat trick by commissioning three units on consecutive days; this is the first time in the history of Coast Guard that such a feat has been achieved. Vice Admiral Anil Chopra dedicated two Coast Guard Stations and one Indian coast guard ship towards the security of the national maritime borders. The units Coast Guard Station Murud – Janjira (Maharastra) on 30 Sep, Indian Coast Guard Ship C – 148 based at Veraval (Gujarat) on 01 Oct 10 and Coast Guard Station Veraval on 02 Oct 10 were commissioned at impressive ceremonies attended by by representatives of various State Govt authorities, apart from the officers and men of the Indian Coast Guard. The Coast Guard stations have been set up as per the Govt Scheme intended to strengthen the close coast surveillance off the Gujarat and Maharashtra coasts, in order to prevent smuggling of arms and explosives, and prevent infiltration of anti-national elements through the sea route.

Post Nov 2008, the Indian Coast Guard has been entrusted with the responsibility of Coastal Security from shoreline till the territorial waters. In addition, the Director General Indian Coast Guard has been designated as the Commander Coastal Command, with the responsibility for overall coordination between various Central and State agencies, in all matters relating to the coastal security. In response to the enhanced role that has been assigned, the Coast Guard is pursuing urgent augmentation of its surveillance capabilities, so as to meet its tasks and responsibilities effectively. The present force-levels and manpower are slated to be doubled in a few years by graduated procurement, with proportionate and corresponding infrastructure development and augmentation of trained manpower.

The new Coast Guard stations at Murud Janjira and Veraval will play an effective role in undertaking joint coastal patrol alongwith Police, Customs and Fishery Department to thwart maritime security threats. Setting up of a Coast Guard Air Station at Ratnagiri is also on the anvil. This will be the first full-fledged Air Station of Coast Guard in the State of Maharashtra, and will play a crucial role in Maritime surveillance and Search & Rescue at sea adjoining Maharashtra coast. In addition, a Regional Headquarter at Kolkata and five more stations at Ratnagiri, Minicoy, Mundra, Dahanu and Kolkata have been planned for establishment by Mar 2011.
[img]http://frontierindia.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/icg_C-148_small.gif[/img]C-148, commissioned on 01 Oct 10 at Veraval, is the sixth in the series of eleven boats, designed and built indigenously by ABG Shipyard, Surat. It is fitted with ultra-modern navigational and communication equipment, and will be deployed for enhancing the close-coast surveillance capability of the Indian Coast Guard. The 28 metre Interceptor Boat with a 90 ton displacement is manned by one officer and 12 men. The boat has an endurance of 500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 25 knots. It can achieve a maximum speed of 45 knots, responding to a fast developing situation at sea. In addition to various state-of-the-art navigational and communication equipment, automatic small arms are also provided in this boat. The boat is fitted with 12.7 mm ‘Prahari’ Heavy Machine Gun (HMG) for effective fire power.

With the induction of C-148, the Coast Guard fleet now comprised of 44 ships, 19 Interceptor Boats, 06 Hovercraft, 24 Fixed Wing Aircraft (Dornier) and 21 Helicopters.

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