L&T delivers two high speed ships to Coast Guard

Engineering major Larsen & Toubro delivered two more High Speed Interceptor Ships to the Coast Guard at its Kattupalli Shipyard in Chennai, an official said on Thursday.

The ships, C-433 and C-434, have been delivered seven months ahead of schedule and are part of two contracts being executed by L&T for the Coast Guard.

The contract includes designing and constructing 54 such ships worth Rs 1,424 crore, of which 34 have already been delivered to the Coast Guard.

Made of aluminium alloy hull with water-jet propulsion, these high-speed interceptor ships have a speed of over 45 knots, excellent maneuverability and ideally suited for interception in the high seas.

Referring to the government's Rs 318 billion plan to boost the force levels of the Coast Guard, L&T CEO and MD S.N. Subrahmanyan said the company's production was over one year ahead of schedule.

"We appreciate the urgent need of ICG to augment coastal security in these turbulent times. We are ready to deliver the remaining 20 HSI ships to ICG any time as per their operational requirements," Subrahmanyan said.

L&T Senior Executive Vice President (Defence) and Director J.D. Patil said besides the Interceptor Vessels Program, the company was also designing and building seven Offshore Patrol Vessels for the ICG, of which the first one was scheduled for launch in September.

Earlier in June, the L&T launched floating dock for the Indian Navy, a giant platform, for which trials are underway and is scheduled for delivery by November.

The company said it had to date repaired and refitted the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard ships and delivered six refit ships, including the largest logistics tanker ship, from the Kattupalli shipyard, which is dedicated to defence shipbuilding.

With a revenue of $ 17 billion, L&T was licensed for warship and submarine building in 2002 and has shipbuilding yards at Hazira in Gujarat and at Kattupalli in Tamil Nadu.

--IANS

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