Indian coast guard ship to make visit to Doha

DUBAI: Indian Coast Guard ship, involved in pollution response and fire operations, will make a four-day visit to Doha Port, in a move to further bilateral ties and cooperation between India and Qatar.

ICGS Samudra Prahari, the first pollution control vessel not only of the Indian Coast Guard but also in the entire South East Asia will visit from February 23 to 26, 2013, Indian embassy in Doha announced.

This indigenously built ship has, among its charter of duties, tasks like preservation, protection and prevention of the seas from marine pollution, Indian embassy said in a statement.

It also protects the waters around the country from marine pollution from ships. It has been responding to oil spills up to Tier II levels, the statement said.

The Ship, commissioned on October 9, 2010, is equipped with state-of-the-art pollution response and control equipment.

Samudra Prahari is designed to carry one twin engine ALH/Chetak helicopter, five high speed boats and four water scooters for SAR, Maritime law enforcement, EEZ surveillance and high speed interdictions.

During the last two years, it has remained at sea for 5626 hours traversing 56664 nautical miles.

In addition to discharging the requirements related to ICG charter of duties, the ship has been involved in four pollution response operations, one fire fighting operation and one SAR operation in Indian waters.