Indian Navy's three fast attack crafts welcomed at Kochi port

Kochi, Sep 21 (ANI): The Indian Navy's three fast attack crafts received a warm ceremonial welcome on Kochi port on Monday.

These ships will be deployed at base ports in Kochi and Goa. This move is an effort to strengthen the coastal security and surveillance by Indian Navy post Mumbai attacks in November 2008.

The main role of these crafts is for naval patrolling duties in coastal waters, detecting and destroying fast moving targets, policing anti-smuggling and fisheries protection and also the search and rescue operations.

"This ship with its high speed and high maneuverability and the ability to stay out and see for long durations will defiantly contribute in a very positive way to enhancing the security and the preparedness of the NSG to deal with any kind of threat in this region. Also the ship with its fast response is the ideal platform for the search and rescue operations and we will be able to render any assistance possible to the civil administration whenever the need arises," said Lieutenant Commander Subal Nathan, commanding officer of ship Kalpeni.

The ship named INS Kalpeni would be based in its base port of Kochi, while the other two, INS Cankarso and INS Kondul would be leaving for Goa port in order to enhance security along the coast of Kerala and parts of Karnataka coast.

INS Cankarso, INS Kondul and INS Kalpeni named after three Indian islands of Goa, Nicobar and Lakshadweep, have a displacement of 320 tonnes, each equipped with water jet propulsion for precise steering control.

Each ship will be having four officers and 40 sailors on board and is equipped with state-of-the-art armaments, which can fire up to a range of five kilometers. (ANI)