Additional Director-General and Coast Guard Commander, Eastern Sea Board, KR Nautiyal, during the commissioning of ‘Priyadarshini’ in Kakinada

Additional Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard K.R. Nautiyal formally commissioned the coast guard vessel ‘Priyadarshini’ here on Friday. This is the 99th vessel made by the Kolkata-based Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited (GRSE) and the third one deputed to the ICG Station, Kakinada.

“In the last 10 years, the growth rate of the Indian Coast Guard has increased to 222% and the use of modern infrastructure to 187% compared to the previous decade. The lifespan of vessels has been reduced to five years from the usual 15 to 20 years, enabling our personnel to give their best performance,” Mr. Nautiyal said while addressing a meeting that was organised to mark the commissioning.

More Radar Stations

Observing that the territory of the coast guard was 1.5 times more than that of the land mass, the official said that a rapid increase in the foreign trade in the sea route in the last two decades has put additional responsibility on the coast guard, who has to safeguard the trade vessels as well, besides prevent the unauthorised entry of foreigners into the Indian waters. “We are equipped with electronic surveillance equipment and radar stations to monitor the sea. We are also using choppers and rose to the position of fourth largest CG in the world,” he said, adding that plans were afoot to establish 32 more radar stations, including five stations in AP, in the days to come.

Referring to ‘Priyadarshini,’ he said the ship was designed and built indigenously with an overall length of 50 metres, displacement of 308 tonnes and a maximum speed of 34 knots. “I witnessed the commissioning of the first ‘Priyadarshini’ vessel in 1992, which was made in technical collaboration with Singapore. But this one has been built in our country as per the designs given by native technocrats,” he said.

During his brief interaction with the media, Mr. Nautiyal said the Coast Guard was on high alert following terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka. “We have intensified security along the coast of southern Tamil Nadu and our men are on high alert,” he said.

Chairman and Managing Director of the GRSE Vipin Kumar Saxena, Commander of the Coast Guard region (East) Paramesh Sivamani, Commanding Officer at the ‘Priyadarshini’ vessel Mahavir Singh, Commandant of the Kakinada coast guard station Syam Kumar, District Collector Kartikeya Misra and other officials were present.