Representation        
Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has accelerated the production of two offshore patrol vessels (OPV) for the Indian Coast Guard with the laying of kneels.

The company is constructing seven new generation OPVs for the Indian Coast Guard. These vessels, which will be designed in-house, will be delivered between this year and 2021.

The company was quoted by PTI as stating: “The first OPV, despite being the First of Class (FOC), was delivered in April 2018, ahead of schedule… Today, the keels of 5th and 6th OPVs were laid by Inspector General TP Sadanandan, TM, Deputy Director General (Materiel & Maintenance) Indian Coast Guard at L&T’s Defence Shipyard at Kattupalli near Chennai.”

In January, L&T launched its second OPV, which is presently being prepared to undergo sea trials.

L&T plans to make the delivery of the second OPV ahead of its schedule shortly. Currently, system integration works are being taken up for the third and fourth OPVs, which are scheduled to be launched at the end of this year.

L&T’s defence shipyard at Kattupalli is undertaking these works. The shipyard is equipped with a ship-lift system featuring multiple dry and wet berths in order to carry out simultaneous construction of several vessels.

Larsen & Toubro managing director and CEO SN Subrahmanyan was quoted by Techtrail as saying: “Our excellent performance in Defence shipbuilding stem from our deep-rooted commitment to nation building, customer orientation, innovative technology solutions, complex project management expertise and prudent financial management.

“With a long-term commitment to the Defence sector, we have made huge investments in Kattupalli shipyard and seven other dedicated Defence production units to serve the nation.”

L&T delivered the country’s first indigenously-designed and constructed Floating Dock (FDN) to the Indian Navy earlier this year.

FDN enables docking of vessels such as naval ships and submarines of up to 8,000t displacement.

The FDN was officially inducted into the Naval Service in May.