Cochin-class fast patrol vessel

Cochin Class Fast Patrol Vessels (FPV) are a series of 20 patrol boats being built by Cochin Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard at its shipyard located at Cochin, Kerala. The ships have been designed by M/s Smart Engineering & Design Solutions (SEDS), Kochi.

Description
The vessels have a length of 50 m, beam of 7.6 m and draught of 4.65 m with a design speed of 33 knots. Each vessel is powered by three Tognum supplied 16V 4000 M90 engines with an output of 2,720 kW (3,648 bhp) each and propelled by triple Rolls-Royce PLC|Rolls-Royce Kamewa 71S3np water jets. They are also fitted with ZF7600 gearboxes and are controlled by the callosum ship automation system. This enables vessels to operate in shallow waters and offer higher speeds and better maneuverability than conventional propellers. The navigation package is being supplied by Northrop Grumman's Sperry Marine business unit which includes VisionMaster™ Total Watch™ multi-function displays, electronic chart display and information system (ECDIS), autopilot, magnetic compass and the NAVIGAT 3000™ fiber optic gyro-compass.

The boats are weight sensitive and extensive use of aluminum in the super-structure has been made.

The primary role of the vessel include fisheries protection and monitoring, patrol within exclusive economic zone (EEZ), coastal patrol, and anti-smuggling, anti piracy and search and rescue operations. The vessels have a secondary role of providing communication link and escorting convoys during hostilities and war time. As per contract worth INR 1500 crore signed in Delhi on 20 October 2010 between Preethi Sudan, joint secretary in the Defence Ministry and Bejoy Bhaskar, Deputy General Manager, Cochin Shipyard Limited, the first ship is to be delivered within 20 months and one every three months thereafter. The vessels are being built under the dual classification requirements of American Bureau of Shipping and Indian Register of Shipping.

Launch
ICGS Aadesh (236), the first Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV) of the series was launched on 9 January 2013. The vessel bearing the yard Hull No. BY 501 was launched by Smt. Jayasree Muralidharan, in the presence of Vice Admiral M P Muralidharan, AVSM, NM, Director General, Indian Coast Guard. Commodore K. Subramaniam, C&MD, senior Officials of the Coast Guard, Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard Ltd were also present. The vessel 'Aadesh' was delivered to the Coast Guard after successful completion of all its trials on September 25, a CSL release said here. It will be operated by the Coast Guard station at Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.

The Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on March 21, 2013 launched the second Fast Patrol Vessel (FPV). The vessel, named 'Abheek', was launched by Jayasree Chandran in the presence of DIG Satish Chandran, Commander, Coast Guard District Headquarters 4, DIG T P Sadanandan, CGRPS (K) of Indian Coast Guard and Commodore K Subramaniam, C&MD, Cochin Shipyard Ltd. The launch was a spectacle to behold. The FPV was placed on specially-designed cradles and transported over the entire length of the Indigenous Aircraft Carrier which is located at the building dock, before being lowered into the waters.

The third fast patrol vessel (FPV) was launched on May 28, 2013. Nina Paul Antony launched the vessel ‘Abhinav’ bearing yard hull no. BY 503 in the presence of Coast Guard DIG Satish Chandran, Commander District headquarters No 4 and DIG T P Sadanandan, CGRPS (K) of Indian Coast Guard.

The fourth Fast Patrol Vessel being built for the Coast Guard. The vessel was launched on September 30, 2013 by Dr Ranjini Raghavan, in the presence of Coast Guard commanders-- DIG Satish Chandran, and DIG T P Sadanandan. The vessel was named 'Abhiraj'.