DELHI: The keel-laying ceremony of the first Next Generation Offshore Patrol Vessels (NGOPV) (ex-GSL) was held at M/s Goa Shipyard Ltd., Goa, on Friday.
VAdm B Siva Kumar, Controller, Warship Production and Acquisition, presided over the ceremony. B K Upadhyay, Chairman and Managing Director of GSL, and other senior officials from the Indian Navy and M/s GSL were present.
The contracts for indigenous design and construction of 11 NGOPV were concluded on March 30, 2023, between MoD and M/s Goa Shipyard Ltd. (GSL), Goa, and M/s Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE), Kolkata, with seven ships to be constructed by Lead Shipyard M/s GSL and four ships by Follow Shipyard M/s GRSE.
The NGOPVs will be utilised for performing missions such as anti-piracy, coastal defence and surveillance, search and rescue, and protection of offshore assets. These ships will enable the Indian Navy to maintain its combat capability to protect the economic and geopolitical interests of the nation in the Indian Ocean Region. This is yet another significant milestone in the Indian Navy’s pursuit of indigenous shipbuilding and is in consonance with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’ initiatives of the nation.
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