Indian Coast Guard ship Vaibhav, the third in the series of 90 meters class offshore patrol vessel (OPV) was commissioned at Tuticorin by Vice Admiral Anurag G. Thapliyal, Director General Indian Coast Guard, on May 21, in the presence of Commander Coast Guard Region (East), senior dignitaries of the Central, state government and shipyard officials. ‘Vaibhav’ meaning “Grandeur” is a projection of Indian Coast Guard’s will and commitment “To serve and protect” the vast maritime interest of the nation.

This 90-metre OPV has been designed and built indigenously by GSL and is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment, sensors and machineries. The ship’s features include an integrated bridge system (IBS), integrated machinery control system (IMCS), power management system (PMS), high power external fire fighting system (ABS Fi-Fi Class-1) and one indigenous close range naval gun (CRN-91) along with an optical fire control system. The ship is designed to carry one helicopter and five high speed boats for search and rescue, law enforcement and maritime patrol. The ship is also capable of carrying pollution response equipment to combat oil spill at sea.

The ship will be deployed extensively for the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) surveillance and such other duties as enlisted in Coast Guard Charter. The vessel will be exploited extensively in the Eastern region, more so, in the sensitive Gulf of Mannar and up to the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) with Sri Lanka, to safeguard the maritime interests of India. ICGS Vaibhav will be manned by 10 officers and 84 men under the command of Deputy Inspector General Sanjiv Trikha, and will be based at Tuticorin under the administrative and operational control of the Commander Coast Guard Region (East).