Coast guard ship Amartya to further bolster security off Karnataka's coast

MANGALORE: Indian Coast Guard's mandate to protect Karnataka's 320-km long coast from a 26/11-type seaborne incursion received a shot in the arm with arrival of inshore patrol vessel Amartya at New Mangalore Port on Sunday. This 50-metre long vessel that displaces 297 tonnes and can achieve maximum speed of 35-knots will be vital to Coast Guard's endeavour to protect 16 vital installations along the coast including Kaiga nuclear power plant.

Eighth in the series of 20 inshore patrol vessels indigenously built by Cochin Shipyard Ltd, Kochi, the ship has an endurance of 1,500 nautical miles at an economical speed of 13 knots. The arrival of Amartya, soon to be christened ICGS Amartya after its formal commissioning at Goa on November 5 will help security forces including Coast Guard avert threat to vital installations, DIG Rajmani Sharma, commander, Coast Guard Karnataka said.

Stating that the vital installations have been identified as per a threat perception assessment carried out by intelligence community, Sharma said there is a need to protect them. "Indian Coast Guard has the characteristic that is military in nature and achievement of this force that is 30,000 strong has given Coast Guards operational in 41 countries in the world a boost ever since Indian Coast Guard apprehended MV Alondra Rainbow in 1999," he said.

The Japanese Maritime Safety Agency now rechristened Japan Coast Guard, and Pakistani Maritime Safety Agency and various other such forces have started to take on a role similar to Indian Coast Guard, he said. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea also provides Coast Guards additional territory to operate beyond their territorial waters and country exclusive economic zone and Indian Coast Guard is game for it, he said.

P C Parida, chairman, New Mangalore Port Trust, who welcomed Amartya, commanded by Commandant P K Jaiswal assured Coast Guard all help from the port. "Security of the nation must get top priority and it is imperative for the Port and the Coast Guard to work together," he said, while requesting Coast Guard authorities to complement the port's security along its Northern breakwaters post sunset. The port has a manned watch tower there.

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