Keel laid for two pollution control vessels at Goa Shipyard Ltd

The keel laying ceremony was held on Monday for two pollution control vessels (PCVs) being constructed by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) for the Indian Coast Guard, an official said.

Director General of Indian Coast Guard V S Pathania presided over the event and laid the keels for the two PCVs. GSL's chairman and managing director Brajesh Kumar Upadhyay briefed the DG, ICG on the progress of the construction and design of these vessels, which have been fully undertaken in-house by the GSL design team, a GSL spokesman said.

“These vessels specially mandated for pollution response, which have been designed for the first time in India, will have a significant indigenous content, a commendable feat considering the government's push for Make in India and Atma Nirbhar Bharat Vision,” he said.

The physical construction of the vessels commenced with the steel plate cutting ceremony, which was held on February 22. Plate cutting was held at the hands of IG S Paramesh, COMCG (West), Mumbai.

The primary role of a PCV is to carry out dedicated oil spill response operations in the vast exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the country and around the various neighbouring islands and operation of one integral twin engine helicopter, it was stated.

Responding to marine pollution is a highly technical task requiring specialised and dedicated equipment and these vessels are fitted with state-of-the-art pollution control and response facilities.

The vessels will have an overall length of 114.5 metres, breadth of 16.5 metres and a draft of 4.5 metres and is capable of carrying 129 personnel onboard (14 officers and 115 sailors), the official said.

The maximum speed of a PCV will be 22 Knots, with an endurance of 6,000 nautical miles. The vessel will be equipped with four sets of ocean boom, five sets of near shore boom, eight skimmers, five recovery oil stowage portable barges for pollution control equipment, he added.