The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) commissioned an interceptor boat at the Karaikal port on Saturday enhancing its shallow water operational capability along the South Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coast.
Speaker of the Puducherry Assembly V. Sabapathy commissioned ICGS C-422 with full military honours in the presence of Inspector-General S.P. Sharma, Commander, Coast Guard Region (East), Deputy Inspector-General S.C. Tyagi and Karaikal Station Commandant S.N.M. Patnaik.
The interceptor boat is capable of undertaking multifarious tasks such as surveillance, interdiction, search and rescue and coordinated operations with sea and air units, sources said.
ICGS C-422 is among the 36 interceptor boats being built for the Coast Guard. It has been designed and built indigenously by M/s. Larsen and Toubro Ltd. The 27.80-m-long boat can achieve a maximum speed of 45 knots. It is equipped with two diesel engines and will have an endurance of 500 nautical miles. It is fitted with state-of-the-art communication and navigational equipment. The boat will be based at Karaikal and have a complement of one officer and 11 ICGS personnel.
Two fast patrol vessels, ICGS Rani Durgavati and ICGS Ameya, and two interceptor boats, C-428 and C-415, are already based at the Karaikal port.
