The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) made further progress on several offshore patrol vessel (OPV) programs in February 2020.

The sixth Vikram-class offshore patrol vessel built for the Indian Coast Guard, Vajra. (L&T)

On 28th of the month, the service commissioned ICGS Varad (40), the fifth of seven 98 m Vikram-class OPVs built by Larsen and Toubro Shipbuilding (LTSB), at its Kattupalli shipyard near Chennai.

The commissioning comes two days after the sixth vessel in the same programme, Vajra , was launched at the same facility.

The Vikram class has an overall length of 98.2 m, a beam of 14.7 m, and a draft of about 3.6 m. The 2,900-tonne vessel is powered by a pair of MTU 20V 8000 M71L engines driving two Schottel propellers for a top speed of 26 kt.

Meanwhile, the service took delivery of Sachet , the ninth 105 m Sankalp-class OPV, from Goa Shipyard Limited, on 24 February. It has a beam of 13.62 m, a draft of 3.72 m, and a displacement of 2,400 tonnes.

Like the Vikram class, the Sankalp class is powered by two MTU 20V 8000 M71L diesels coupled to two WIL model 1MG-103W/1PTO gearboxes driving two licence-built Wärtsilä propellers for a maximum speed of 25 kt.