Samarth-class offshore patrol vessel

The Samarth-class offshore patrol vessel are a series of eleven offshore patrol vessels being built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard. The construction of Samarth class was motivated by a desire to triple the Coast Guard assets in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks. They are an improvement over the earlier Sankalp class, with a larger beam and more powerful engines.[4][5] The ships are being constructed in two batches—a batch of six ordered in May 2012 that was completed in December 2017 and a follow-on batch of five ordered in August 2016.

ICGS Samarth, first ship of the class
Class overview
Name:	Samarth class
Builders:	Goa Shipyard, Vasco da Gama, Goa
Operators:	Indian Coast Guard
Preceded by:	Vishwast class
Succeeded by:	Vikram class
Built:	2012–present
In commission:	2015–present
Planned:	11[1]
Building:	3
Completed:	8[2]
Active:	8
General characteristics
Type:	Patrol boat
Displacement:	2,450 t (2,410 long tons; 2,700 short tons)[3]
Length:	105 m (344 ft 6 in)
Beam:	13.6 m (44 ft 7 in)
Draught:	6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)
Installed power:	2 × MTU 20V 8000 M71L engines rated at 9,100 kW (12,200 hp)[1]
Propulsion:	2 x controllable pitch propellers
Speed:	23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Range:	6,000 nmi (11,000 km; 6,900 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Endurance:	20 days
Complement:	18 officers & 108 sailors
Armament:	1 x 30 mm CRN 91 Naval Gun 2 x 12.7 mm HMG
Aircraft carried:	HAL Dhruv

History

Following the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Indian Government initiated a program to triple the Indian Coast Guard force, assets and infrastructure.[6] Thereafter in accordance with it a 'request for information' for acquisition of six offshore patrol vessels was issued by the Ministry of Defence on 1 April 2010.[7] After technical evaluation and commercial bids a contract worth $400 million or Rs. 1800 crore was signed with GSL on 9 May 2012 to build six vessels.[6]

On 14 May 2012 GSL did the first steel cutting in its shipyard,[8] and the keel-laying ceremony of the first of the new class of offshore patrol vessels was held at Vasco da Gama on 28 September 2012.[9][10] The second and third vessels were laid down 28 January and 11 October 2013, and the fourth on 9 January 2014.[11] The first vessel was commissioned on 10 November 2015 and all six will be commissioned by the end of 2017.[12] In August 2016, a follow-on consisting of five patrol vessels was placed for INR 20 billion.[1] The follow-on vessels will have a greater indigenous content of 70% compared to the 62% of the previous batch.[13]

Sujeet the second OPV from the second batch was handed to Indian Coast Guard on 12 November 2020.[2]

Description

The class is 105 metres (344 ft 6 in) long with a displacement of 2,350 tonnes. Features include Integrated Bridge System, Integrated Machinery Control System, Power Management System and High Power External Fire Fighting System. They are designed to carry one twin engine Light Helicopter and five high speed boats including two Palfinger [14] QRIBs for fast boarding operations, search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol. The class is also capable of carrying pollution response equipment to combat oil spill contamination at sea.[15]

Ships of the class

Yard Number	Name	Pennant number	Keel laid	Launched	Commissioned	Home Port
Flight I
1218	ICGS Samarth	11	28 September 2012[16]	26 November 2014	10 November 2015[17]	Goa
1219	ICGS Shoor	12	28 January 2013[16]	21 March 2015[18]	11 April 2016[15][19]	Manglore
1220	ICGS Sarathi	14	11 October 2013[16]	24 April 2015	9 September 2016[20][21]	Kochi[22]
1221	ICGS Shaunak[23]	15	9 January 2014[16]	28 November 2015[24][25]	21 February 2017[26]	Vizag
1222	ICGS Shaurya	16	22 July 2014[16]	5 May 2016[27]	12 August 2017[28]	Chennai[29]
1223	ICGS Sujay	17	8 June 2015[30]	30 November 2016[31]	21 December 2017[13]	Chennai[32]
Flight II
1233	ICGS Sachet[33]	18	20 March 2017[34]	21 February 2019[33]	15 May 2020[35]
1234	ICGS Sujeet	19	29 September 2017[36][37]	25 May 2019[38]	15 December 2020[39]
1235	ICGS Sajag	20	1 August 2018[40]	14 November 2019[41]
1236	ICGS Sarthak	21	10 November 2018	13 August 2020[42]
1237[43]	ICGS Saksham	22	10 June 2019[44]	14 December 2020[45]

Gallery

Samart-class ships at sea

• 
  ICGS Shaurya and ICGS Sujay during fire dousing operation.
• 
  ICGS Sujay during MT New Diamond fire suppression mission.
• 
  Indian Coast guard ships ICGS Samudra Pahredar and a Samarth-class ship during fire dousing fire onboard MT New Diamond.

See also

• L&T Interceptor class fast attack craft
• Solas Marine Fast Interceptor Boat
• Couach fast interceptor boats
• Cochin Fast Patrol Vessels
• ABG fast interceptor craft
• Makar-class survey catamaran
• Rani Abbakka-class patrol vessel
• Manoram-class ferry

References

1. Mazumdar, Mrityunjoy (7 September 2016). "Goa Shipyard set to build five new OPVs for Indian Coast Guard". IHS Jane's Navy International. Archived from the original on 8 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
2. "GSL makes another ahead of schedule delivery of new class OPV". UNI India. 12 November 2020.
3. "Surface Units". Indian Coast Guard. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
4. Mazumdar, Mrityunjoy (1 May 2012). "India's 20/20 vision: Coastguard joins the premier league". IHS Jane's Navy International. Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. 117 (4). ISSN 2048-3457.
5. Commodore Stephen Saunders, ed. (2016). "India". Jane's Fighting Ships 2016–2017 (119th ed.). Coulsdon: Jane's Information Group. p. 364. ISBN 978-0710631855.
6. "Goa Shipyard Signs Contract to Build Six Vessels for Indian Coast Guard". Defence Now. 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
7. "Request for information" (PDF). Indian Ministry of Defence. 1 April 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
8. "Goa Shipyard Ltd cuts steel for advanced offshore patrol vessels". The Times of India. 15 May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
9. "Keel-laying ceremony of offshore patrol vessels at Goa Shipyard Ltd". The Times of India. 30 September 2012. Archived from the original on 3 February 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
10. "India: Goa Shipyard Lays Keel for Coast Guard's First OPV". World Maritime News. 1 October 2012. Archived from the original on 19 May 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
11. "Keel laid at Goa Shipyard Ltd for Coast Guard's 4th offshore patrol". The Times of India. 10 January 2014. Archived from the original on 31 December 2016. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
12. "Coast Guard's IG reviews projects at Goa Shipyard". The Times of India. 22 March 2014. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
13. Mazumdar, Mrityunjoy (21 December 2017). "Indian Coast Guard commissions last of six Samarth-class OPVs". Jane's Navy International. Archived from the original on 22 December 2017.
14. "Shoor adds teeth to Coast Guard's policing, patrolling ops". Mathrubhumi. 11 April 2016. Archived from the original on 15 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
15. Namboodiri, Narayan (11 April 2016). "Indian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel Shoor commissioned". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
16. "GSL News". Goa Shipyard (Press release).
17. "ICGS Samarth commissioned; to boost Goa coastal security". Business Standard. 10 November 2015. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
18. Rahmat, Ridzwan (20 September 2015). "Goa Shipyard readies first improved OPV for delivery to Indian Coast Guard". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 6 January 2016. Retrieved 27 December 2015.
19. Rahmat, Ridzwan (1 April 2016). "Goa Shipyard delivers second improved Sankalp-class OPV to Indian Coast Guard". IHS Jane's Defence Weekly. Archived from the original on 13 February 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
20. "Union Home minister launches ICGS Saarthi at Goa". The Times of India. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017.
21. "Rajnath Singh commissions Coast Guard Ship Sarathi, terms maritime terrorism a major threat: Rajnath". Firstpost. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 14 September 2016. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
22. "Rajnath Singh commissions offshore patrolling vessel Sarathi". Business Line. 9 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 September 2016.
23. "State-of-the-art patrol vessel added to Coast Guard fleet". The Times of India. 8 February 2017. Archived from the original on 12 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
24. "Fourth new generation OPV built by GSL for coast guard launched". Daijiworld. 29 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 December 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
25. "GSL delivers fourth patrol vessel for Indian Coast Guard". The Times of India. 28 November 2015. Archived from the original on 30 December 2016. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
26. "Indian Coast Guard ship 'Shaunak' commissioned at Vasco by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu". The Financial Express. 21 February 2017. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
27. Sequeira, Newton (5 May 2016). "Indian Coast Guard ship 'Shaurya' kisses water for the first time at Goa Shipyard". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 28 July 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016.
28. "ICGS 'Shaurya' commissioned, Dharmendra Pradhan calls it 'joyous moment' for India". www.outlookindia.com/. Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 12 August 2017.
29. ANI. "ICGS 'Shaurya' commissioned, Dharmendra Pradhan calls it 'joyous moment' for India". Archived from the original on 13 August 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2017.
30. "News & Events Details". Goa Shipyard (Press release). Archived from the original on 30 June 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2016.
31. "Coast Guard gets 6th OPV from GSL". The Times of India. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2016.
32. Jun 8, V. Ayyappan | TNN |; 2020; Ist, 18:46. "Indian Coast Guard vessel ICGS Sujay to be based out of Chennai | Chennai News - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 14 June 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
33. "Sitharaman launches vessel, asks defence PSUs to expand market". EconomicTimes. Retrieved 21 February 2019.
34. "Keel For First Ship of the 5 CGOPV Project Laid In GSL" (Press release). Goa Shipyard. 20 March 2017. Retrieved 23 March 2017.
35. "Indian Coast Guard patrol vessel, 2 interceptor boats commissioned". Economic Times. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
36. "'Quantum of indigenisation up in GSL's new vessels'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
37. "Goa Shipyard Lays Keel For 2nd Vessel Of New Class OPVS". goashipyard.co.in. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
38. Rahmat, Ridzwan (29 May 2019). "Goa Shipyard launches 10th improved Sankalp-class OPV for Indian Coast Guard". Jane's Navy International. Archived from the original on 29 May 2019.
39. @IndiaCoastGuard (15 December 2020). "IndiaCoastGuard ship 'Sujeet', second in the series of 05 OPV indigenously designed & built by M/s Goa shipyard Limited, in line with PM's vision of makeinindia will be commissioned today at GSL Goa by Shri Raj Kumar, IAS, Secretary (Defence Production)" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
40. "Goa Shipyard lays keel for 3rd vessel of new class OPVs". United News of India. 2 August 2018.
41. Sequeira, Newton (14 November 2019). "GSL launches coast guard offshore patrol vessel 'Sajag'". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
42. "Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel 'Sarthak' launched". PIB. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
43. @shripadynaik (10 June 2019). "Laid keel for offshore patrol vessel at 5th CG OPV yard 1237" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
44. "Shripad extends support to Goa Shipyard". oHeraldo. 11 June 2019.
45. @IndiaCoastGuard (14 December 2020). "OPV Saksham (Yard '1237') last in the series of 05 OPVs indigenously designed & built by M/s Goa shipyard Limited, in line with PM's vision of Make in India will be launched today at Goa" (Tweet) – via Twitter.