ICGS Vikram quick facts: Indian Coast Guard gets indigenously developed defense ship

The ICGS Vikram was commissioned into Indian Coast Guard Wednesday.Subhash Bhamre's Twitter handle / @DrSubhashMoS

Indian prime minister Narendra Modi's pet project Make in India has achieved yet another historic milestone in the defense sector. The first indigenously developed offshore patrol vessel (OPV), ICGS Vikram, was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard at Kattupalli Port in Tamil Nadu, Wednesday, April 11.

ICGS Vikram is the 'First in Class' among the 7 new generation OPVs being designed and built by Larsen and Toubro. The ship was developed after the Indian construction engineering company got the contract from the ministry of defense in 2015, The Times of India reported.

"Delighted to commission @IndiaCoastGuard's newest & first in the series of 98 mtr. Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPV) 'Vikram' at #Chennai #TamilNadu. Ship is being based at New Mangalore #Karnataka and will join the Western Region Fleet shortly [sic]," Subhash Bhamre, Union minister of state for defense tweeted on the historic feat.

Here are the quick facts:

• ICGS Vikram is India's first indigenously developed offshore patrol vessel.
• It is a project developed under Indian government's Make in India initiative.
• The ship is the 'First in Class' of seven new generation OPVs.
• The defense ship was designed and built by Larsen and Toubro.
• The contract to build the ship was given to L&T by the Indian ministry of defense in 2015.
• The offshore patrol vessel was commissioned into the Indian Coast Guard at a private shipyard in Kattupalli Port Wednesday, April 11.
• The defense ship was commissioned in a record time of 25 months.
• The ship has a 3.6m draught, 2,140-ton displacement, a range of 5,000 NM and is 97m long and 15m wide.
• ICGS Vikram was built to keep an eye on maritime security threats.
• The defense ship was deployed into the Arabian Sea in Mangalore, Karnataka.
• The cost of the ship is estimated to be around Rs 190 crore.
• The keel for the defense ship was laid in March 2016.
• The ship can handle helicopter operations and would be deployed for control and surveillance, anti-piracy operations and coastal patrolling, among other purposes.
• The ship is equipped to carry a twin-engine helicopter and four high-speed boats. 
• The long range surface ship can sustain a speed of 26 knots and can travel at least 5,000 nautical miles without refueling.