The Ministry of Defence has signed a contract with Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the construction of two pollution control vessels (PVC) for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at a worth of about Rs 583 crore.

Under Buy Indian - Indigenously designed, developed and manufactured ( Buy Indian - IDDM) the highest priority category for defence procurement these specialised role ships will be indigenous, designed, developed, and built by GSL.

The ministry told the media that the acquisition will significantly augment the capability of ICG to respond to oil spill disasters at sea and also enhance pollution response (PR) efficiency. These vessels are scheduled for delivery by November 2024 and May 2025 each.

ICG has three PCVs at present in its fleet at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, and Porbandar to carry out dedicated pollution surveillance, oil spill monitoring, and Response operations in the Indian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) and around islands.

The new PCVs proposed are for pollution response requirements in the eastern and the ecologically sensitive Andaman & Nicobar Regions. The vessels will have many advanced features with modern PR equipment of niche technology for containing, recovering, and dispersing the marine oil spill, with the capability of operating helicopters onboard.

Image Source

---

Also read: Defence ministry to acquire 11 airport surveillance radars from Mahindra