A 105-metre ship for training cadets of the Coast Guard was launched at the dry dock of the Reliance Naval & Engineering Limited (RNEL) here on Wednesday afternoon.
Addressing the august gathering at the shipyard premises, RNEL CEO Debashis Bir said the training ship built as per the Prime Minister’s ‘Make in India’ policy, is 65 per cent complete and would be delivered to the Indian Coast Guard by the end of May 2019.
This state-of-the-art training ship has displacement of 3,000 tonnes and is capable of achieving a maximum speed of 20 knots so as to cruise up to 5,000 nautical miles.
Though a ship for training cadets of the Coast Guard is not a giant leap in the country’s defence preparedness, visuals and media hype surrounding it may give the impression to many that the company manufacturing it indeed has gained experience in making such equipment.
Reliance Naval is the first private sector shipyard to launch the largest training ship for the Indian Coast Guard.
The 105-metre-long vessel would have the capacity to accommodate 242 personnel, including the ship’s crew, training staff as well as the trainee cadets of the Coast Guard.
Apart from an on-board helipad, the ship also has a 30 mm gun for live armament demonstration to the trainees. The vessel is also equipped with weapons systems and is capable of policing the maritime zones as well as undertaking search and rescue missions.
Reliance Naval is currently constructing 20 ships of three categories for the defence services, including five naval Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and 14 Fast Patrol Vessels (FPVs).
Regretting that the two private sector shipyards have an order book of only Rs 6,000 crore against the huge capital investments they have made, Debashis Bir urged the government to support it by placing more orders.