Navy to hand over second Fast Attack Craft to Seychelles on Friday

New Delhi: Navy Chief Admiral RK Dhowan will on Friday hand over the second Indian Fast Attack Craft (FAC) to the Seychelles that will strengthen its Coast Guard against piracy and other threats. Dhowan, who reached Seychelles today on a four-day visit, will also hold talks with top officials besides calling on the President there. [caption id=“attachment_1790833” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] India has provided a comprehensive maritime security solution including provisioning of military hardware, training, consultancy as well as hydrographic assistance to the Seychelles government. The first craft, SCG Topaz (formerly INS Tarmugli) was gifted to the Seychelles islands by India in 2005 and has served the Seychelles Coast Guard well, having carried out several anti-piracy patrols and captured several pirates. The handing over of the second attack craft will further bolster the strength of the island nation’s Coast Guard and serve as another visible, potent symbol of the friendship between the two countries, a statement by the Navy said. INS Tarasa, which has been recently refitted at Naval Dockyard Mumbai, will join her sister ship SCG Topaz as part of the Indian Navy’s assistance to Seychelles Coast Guard in capacity building towards meeting her maritime security needs. In addition, the Indian Navy would also position a maintenance and support team to assist the Seychelles Coast Guard. “The Indian Navy remains committed to support Seychelles in its endeavours to ensure good order at sea and protection of its vast Exclusive Economic Zone,” it said. The new vessel is a Car Nicobar Class and features a more efficient hull-form design than the earlier FAC version. The vessel is equipped with Furuno navigation radar, surface search radars and a sonar system. The class has a sewage treatment plant and a reverse osmosis plant for desalination. The ships offer improved habitability with fully air-conditioned standard accommodation. The boats comply with the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) regulations on sea pollution control. The main gun fitted on the bow deck is a CRN-91 30 mm auto-cannon. It is the naval version of the 2A42 30 mm Medak gun. The gun can fire 550 rounds a minute for a maximum range of 4,000 m. The firing is controlled by an electro-optic fire control system jointly supplied by the Ordnance Factory Board and Bharat Electronics. The Car Nicobar Class is also armed with two 12.7mm heavy machine guns, multiple medium machine guns and an Igla Man-Portable Air-Defence System (MANPADS) to combat aerial threats. The ships have anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. The visit of Dhowan coincides with the docking of three naval ships at Port Victoria. Indian Naval Ships Mumbai, Talwar, Teg and Deepak under the Command of Rear Admiral R Hari Kumar, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, are on a two-month long overseas deployment to East Africa and the South Indian Ocean region. Three of the four ships, INS Mumbai, INS Talwar and INS Deepak arrived Port Victoria today towards bolstering bilateral ties and reinforcing cooperation in maritime security between India and the Seychelles. During the stay the ships would be kept open to public. In addition, various cultural events and games between the two navies are scheduled to strengthen bonds of friendship between the two nations. PTI