Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel ‘Varaha’ arrives at Home Port-Mangaluru
Mangaluru: The term ‘Varaha’ refers to the third incarnation of Lord Vishnu who took the form of a boar to rescue Goddess Earth from the ocean by lifting her on his tusks. Defense Minister Rajnath Singh who had formally commissioned the Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV) ‘Varaha’ at the Chennai Port Trust in Chennai on 25 September 2019, arrived at the Home Port of Mangaluru on Tuesday, 15 October 2019 at 10 am, and the personnel of No 3 Coast Guard Headquarter based at Panambur, welcomed the crew of the ship. In the meantime, the fifteen-member 7th B N Police Band, led by band master Prakash A (Assistant Reserve Sub Inspector) played some patriotic tunes, also joined in welcoming the ship crew. The OPV had left Chennai Port on 7 October 2019.
After unveiling a plaque commemorating the commissioning ceremony in Chennai, Rajnath Singh said the state-of-the-art ship was going to be a force multiplier for the Indian Coast Guard, pointing it has capabilities to operate twin-engine ALH Helicopters developed indigenously by HAL. “It is indeed reassuring to witness the growing strength of Indian Coast Guard, the ‘Sentinals of our seas’ and capabilities of Larsen and Toubro Shipbuilding Ltd one of the strong supporting pillars for production and maintenance of surface assets of
our maritime forces’ had said Singh.
This morning nearly 25 journos took a bus from the Coast Guard Headquarters to Mangalore Port Dock to take a tour of the OPV “Varaha”. After the OPV was docked at the Mangalore Port, the media personnel took an inside tour of the Ship, where Ship Commandant Satish Kumar (In-charge of Navigation dept) briefed about ‘Varaha’. Kumar said, “The OPV is part of the contract awarded to Larsen and Toubro to build seven offshore patrol vessels at the Kattuppalli Port near here. This is the fourth in the series of seven 98-m vessels awarded to Larsen and Toubro. ‘Varaha’ is the projection of Coast Guard’s will and commitment ‘to serve and protect’ the maritime interest of the country”.
“The ship has been designed and built indigenously by Larsen and Toubro and is fitted with state of the art communication technology and navigation, sensor and machinery. The vessel is equipped with a 30-mm gun and a 12.7 mm gun for enhancing the fighting efficiency of the vessel. Some of the special features of the vessel include Integrated Bridge System, Automated power management system, high power external firefighting system, indigenously built Integrated platform management system and Help Traversing System. The ship also carries four high-speed boats including two rigid hull inflated boats for boarding operation, search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol,” added Kumar.
He further said, “Besides, the ship has capabilities of carrying limited Pollution Response equipment to contain oil spill at Sea. It displaces 2,100 tonnes and is propelled by two engines capable of achieving maximum speed of 26 knots and endurance of 5000 nautical miles. The ship will be manned by 14 officers and 89 men. It will be commanded by Commandant Dushyant Kumar. The ship will be based at New Mangalore Port dock under the administrative and operational control of the Coast Guard Commander (West) Region.
At the Coast Guard Headquarters, the Coast Guard Commander S S Dasila said, “The name ‘Varaha’ from Puranas reminded of the principle of sacrifice and rescue at sea, saving mother Earth, restoring harmony and strength. The multitude challenges of drug trafficking, oil spill incidents, and the growing threat of maritime terrorism call for cooperation on regional arrangements with various Maritime Nations and Indian Coast Guard over the years have built bonds of diplomacy”.
“The Coast Guard entered into a memorandum of understanding with seven maritime nations for capacity building training collective and cooperative response to deal with Maritime threats. ICGS Varaha presence here in Mangaluru is a major milestone and will further enhance the Indian Coast Guards’ operational capability to discharge the multifarious maritime tasks. The basing of a sophisticated and state-of-the-art OPV at New Mangalore Port will also give a fillip to the maritime protection of our vast coastline of Western Seaboard in general and the Maritime States of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and L & M islands in particular. Recently we have rescued ship crew stranded in the sea, and we had also played an important role during the recent floods in Karnataka”, added Commander Dasila.
In conclusion, India’s engagement with the world has seen exponential growth and today the coast guard is at the fulcrum operating round the clock for safeguarding national interest in the maritime zones of India apart from building bridges of confidence at sea for the safety, security and growth in the Indian ocean.
