The Defence Ministry has signed a contract with Goa Shipyard Ltd (GSL) for the construction of two pollution control vessels for the Indian Coast Guard at a cost of about Rs 583 crore, officials said.
The ships are being procured to significantly augment the capability of the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) to respond to incidents of oil spills at the sea and also boost the force’s pollution response mechanism. These two vessels are scheduled for delivery by November 2024 and May 2025 respectively.
The defence ministry said the “special role ships” will be indigenously designed, developed and built by GSL.“The acquisition will significantly augment the capability of ICG to respond to oil spill disasters at sea,” it said.