Jaitley to visit INS Viraat in Mumbai & commission 2 Fast attack crafts

[Indo-guy]

Arun Jaitley to visit aircraft carrier INS Viraat in Mumbai


During his visit to the Western Command, the Defence Minister will also commission two fast-attack craft ICGS Achook and ICGS Agrim, of the Indian Coast Guard, Navy officials said here.
After taking charge, Jaitley has been busy with briefings by Defence Ministry officials and the chiefs of armed forces and is reviewing the functioning and performance of various departments.
In his first visit as Defence Minister, Jaitley will visit INS Viraat in Mumbai harbour and then move to review the functioning and operational preparedness of the Western Naval Command.
INS Viraat was till recently the only aircraft carrier in the Indian Navy and the force is working towards keeping it operational for a few more years to meet its requirements.
The command suffered more than 10 mishaps in the last ten months and even saw its Commander-in-Chief resigning after being superseded by the government for the appointment of new Navy chief.
The Western Naval Command, considered being the sword-arm of the Indian Navy, suffered major blows in terms of the loss of the latest submarine INS Sindhurakshak in an explosion in which all 18 persons on board were killed.
The Defence Minister has been invited by the armed forces to visit far flung bases to show solidarity with the troops and Prime Minister Narendra Modi is believed to have been invited to visit Siachen glacier by the Army and largest warship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya by the Navy.

 

[Indo-guy]

ICGS AGRIM

IMO: -
MMSI: 419000781
Call Sign: AWCH
Flag: India (IN)
Type: High Speed Craft

ICGS AGRIM - High Speed Craft: current position and details | MMSI 419000781, Callsign AWCH | Registered in India - AIS Marine Traffic


IMO: -
MMSI: 419000782
Kaldesignal: AWCI
Flag: India (IN)
Type: High Speed Craft

COAST GUARD 240 - High Speed Craft: current position and details | MMSI 419000782, Callsign AWCI | Registered in India - AIS Marine Traffic



Cochin Shipyard Launches the eighth Fast Patrol Vessel | Aviation Space India
Smt Arti Bhatnagar, Joint Secretary & Finance Manager (Maritime Systems), Ministry of Defence in a simple ceremony at Cochin Shipyard, launched, the eighth of the 20 Fast Patrol Vessel being built for the Indian Coast Guard. Cmde K Subramaniam, CMD, CSL, Shri Ravikumar Roddam, Director (Finance), CSL, Shri Vinayakumar P, Director (Technical) and other senior CSL officials were present on the occasion.
The launch of the vessel comes on the heels of the delivery of the fifth vessel CGS Achook which was handed over to the Coast Guard yesterday. The first reading of D 448 (Acceptance protocol of delivery of fifth FPV) was signed by Capt R S Sundar, Director (Operations), on behalf of CSL and commanding officer designate of BY 505 (ICGS ACHOOK) Lt Cdr Rahul Gautam of Indian Coast Guard. DIG Vivek Vajpayee, Principal Director (Materials), Indian Coast Guard and DIG TP Sadanandan, CGRPS (Kochi) were present on the occasion. This is the seventh ship that the yard has delivered this financial year.
Earlier, CSL delivered four fast patrol vessels to the Indian Coast Guard and two high end Platform Supply Vessels to Norwegian owners. The last six months have been an extremely busy period for the shipyard with seven deliveries being made, virtually one ship every month. The highpoint of this year’s performance for the shipyard has undoubtedly been the launching of the most prestigious warship of the Indian Navy “Vikrant” on 12 August 2013. The launching of its own aircraft carrier has catapulted India to a select club of 5 nations capable of building aircraft carriers of this size. These achievements of CSL is a record and is especially commendable in the light of difficult market scenario wherein ship deliveries have been delayed in most of the yards in India and abroad.
The performance of Cochin Shipyard had been consistently impressive in the last several years despite a very challenging business environment in the shipbuilding, ship repair and shipping scenario. CSL has increased its turnover five folds from Rs 373 crores in 2005-06 to Rs 1554 crores in 2012-13. Likewise, the Profit After Tax doubled during the period from Rs 94 crores to Rs 185 crores. The yard is in robust financial health.
CSL has been consistently declaring and paying dividend to GOI in the last five consecutive years. The total dividend paid since 2008-09 including the dividend taxes amounted to around Rs 90 crores. Besides the yard also redeemed Rs 119.14 crore of preference share capital of GOI during the period and paid (approx) Rs 700 crore to national exchequer way of taxes and duties. Hence CSL’s total contribution to national exchequer in the last five years was around Rs 900 crore against a GOI investment in the shares amounting to Rs 113 crore.
In order to maintain the growth momentum, CSL has identified projects for expansion in the short, medium and long term. The yard has identified considerable potential in the ship repair business, owing to lack of commensurate facilities in the country. The yard has taken land on lease in the Cochin Port Trust (COPT) premises for setting up of an International ship repair Facility with Shiplift system. The capital cost for the facility is Rs 487 crore and is expected to take 5 years to setup.

 

[Abingdonboy]

and largest warship aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya by the Navy.