Defence Minister Arun Jaitley during the commissioning ceremony of Indian Coast Guard Ships Achook and Agrim in Mumbai on Saturday.
Two Indian Coastguard ships ICGS Achook and ICGS Agrim, the fifth and sixth ships in a series of twenty fast patrol vessels have been commissioned into the Indian Coastguard by Defence Minister Arun Jaitley.
These ships are new generation fast patrol vessels equipped with sophisticated communication equipment and will be based in Mumbai. The other commissioned ships in these series are in Tuticorin, Porbandar, Cochin and Mangalore.
Speaking at the event, Defence Minister Arun Jaitley said, "These ships have been indigenously made in a country where we feel ship building industry needs to do much more. The maritime security scenario has changed and so has role of coast guard. I am aware of challenges ship building industry faces and I expect more focus on shortening delivery period in future."
Each of these ships can carry 5 officers and 34 enrolled personnel. Each ship costs Rs 68 crores and the total cost of the project is Rs 1500 crores. The ship is also fitted with a 30 mm guns.
These ships are being built at Cochin shipyard which is also building India's first indigenous aircraft carrier.