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.