Article Posted on : - Jun 07, 2010

Indian Navy's Sukanya class OPV

NEW DELHI (BNS): The Indian Navy has awarded Pipavav Shipyard a Rs 2,600-crore contract to build offshore patrol vessels, a media report said.

The country�s largest ship-building facility in the private sector, Pipavav Shipyard, will built about five such vessels, each with a displacement of about 2,000 tonne, an Economic Times report said.

With the order from the Navy, the company�s order books have now swelled to over Rs 7,000 crore.

�We have been declared as the lowest bidder by the ministry of defence (MoD) for contract to build off-shore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the Navy. This will be our maiden foray into building ships for the defence sector,� Nikhil Gandhi, group chairman, SKIL Infrastructure, was quoted as saying.

�These vessels will be fitted with a 76 mm gun. They will be about 110 meters in length, will have a displacement of about 2,000 tonne and will have a maximum speed of 20 knots,� he said.