ICGS Sarthak
ICGS Sarthak is an indigenously built Indian Coast Guard Ship. It was commissioned on October 28, 2021 at Goa.
About ICGS Sarthak
The ICGS is based at Porbandar, Gujarat. It is the fourth in the series of five offshore patrol vessels (OPVs). These five OPVs were built by the Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard. The ICGS Sarthak is 105 metres long. It is propelled by two 9.1 KW diesel engines. They are capable running at a maximum speed of 26 knots. It is a Samarth class Offshore Patrol Vessel. It is an improvement of the earlier Sankalp class vessels.
Technical Details
It has an Integrated Bridge System, Power management system, integrated machinery control system and a high-power external fire-fighting system. It is designed to carry a twin-engine helicopter, two palfinger and five high sped boats. The Palfinger is the manufacturer of life saving appliances.
Main operations
The ship is fitted with weapons, sensors, machineries. This equips the ship to take the following operations:
- Search and rescue operations
- Preserving and protecting the environment
- Combating maritime crimes
Why was ICGS Sarthak deployed?
In 2008, a series of terrorist attacks took place in Mumbai. These attacks are generally referred to as 2008 Mumbai attacks. The terrorists of the attack belonged to Lashkar-e-Taiba. They reached India by sea. Thus, after the attack the Government of India planned to triple the Indian Coast Guard forces, its infrastructure and assets. In 2012, the Ministry of Defence signed 400 million USD with the Goa Shipyard Limited to build six Offshore Patrol Vessels. All the six vessels were commissioned by 2017. However, in august 2016, a follow-on of five patrol vessels were placed. The ICGS Sarthak is one among the five. The second of the six vessels were called “Sujeet” and was commissioned in 2020. The third was called “Sajag” and was commissioned in March 2021. ICGS Sarthak is the fourth.
