India is undertaking a scheduled maintenance of Mauritius Coast Guard Ship (MCGS) Barracuda at GRSE Kolkata. Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Kolkata (GRSE), an Indian government enterprise is one of the key shipyards of the country.

Indian Navy chief Adm Karambir Singh visited the shipyard last week to review the ongoing maintenance activities and interacted with the crew of the vessel.

The ship is in the final stages of the maintenance and shall undergo sea-trials shortly, which will be monitored jointly by both Indian Navy and Mauritius Coast Guard crew. Post the successful completion of the trials, MCGS Barracuda would be ready to sail to Mauritius.

MCGS Barracuda was the primary warship to be exported by an Indian shipyard and was constructed by GRSE.  It was delivered to the Mauritian Coast Guard during PM Modi’s visit to the nation. It was commissioned into Mauritius National Coast Guard in March 2015.

It was the primary ‘Made to Order’ warship constructed by India for any international nation, and is seen as an affidavit to the robust relationship between the 2 international locations. 

Indian Navy has been taking part in an essential position by way of reaching out to nations of the Indian Ocean. Amid Covid disaster, it reached out to international locations of the world and offered them assistance as a part of Sagar missions.

Launched on 10 May 2020, Mission Sagar was India’s initiative to deliver Covid-19 related assistance to the countries in the Indian Ocean region. As part of this Mission, INS Kesari successively visited Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros and Seychelles to deliver assistance to our maritime neighbors in dealing with the Covid crisis.

India’s humanitarian assistance included supplies of essential food items, medicines, Ayurvedic medicines and deployment of Medical Assistance Teams (MAT) to Mauritius and Comoros.

Mission SAGAR is a major milestone in our engagement with the countries in the Indian Ocean Region, in line with Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region’.

Image source: The Economic times