KARAIKAL: The Indian Coast Guard unit here on Friday inducted interceptor boat 'C-436', which has been rebased from Andhra Pradesh station, to its fleet to improve surveillance along the coastline of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
The vessel was formally inducted in a ceremony near Karaikal Port, in which Nagapattinam Collector A Arun Thamburaj participated as chief guest.
The Interceptor Boat (IB), which is the 36th of its series, was commissioned at its base port of Krishnapatnam by then chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh Dinesh Kumar on January 5, 2018.
It will have one officer and 12 enrolled personnel as crew, and will be deployed in the Area of Responsibility (AoR) of the Coast Guard Station in Karaikal. A Coast Guard official said, "The boat would be instrumental in keeping a watch on criminal activities at sea as it has the necessary reach, sustenance, and modern equipment."
The vessel is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment. The sensors and machinery are capable of operating in tropical sea conditions/close coast surveillance. The boat is also designed to carry one high-speed inflatable boat for boarding, search and rescue operations, law enforcement, and maritime patrol.
Further, the vessel has an endurance range of 500 nautical miles while maintaining an average speed of 20 knots. This can cover the conflicted Palk Strait waters southeast of Kodiyakarai.
While there are already offshore patrol vessels ‘ICSG Ameya’ and ‘ICGS Rani Duragavati’, besides one fast interceptor boat ‘C-435’, the induction of ‘C-436’ has increased the fleet strength to four. Assistant Commandant Virendra Kumar Yadav would commandeer the new vessel.
Collector Thamburaj told TNIE, "The patrolling would help in checking and preventing the trespass of fishers from India and Sri Lanka across the IMBL. It could also check smuggling activities near Nagapattinam."
The Commanding Officer, ICGS Karaikal, Commanding Officers of Coast Guard ships, officers and enrolled personnel of Coast Guard, among others, were present during the ceremony.
(With inputs from Chennai)