The Border Security Force (BSF) has received three new Floating Border Out-Post (FBOP) vessels from the Cochin Shipyard Ltd (CSL) on January 26 while three more vessels are likely to be delivered in the coming months, the CSL said on Friday.
The CSL has received orders for building nine such FBOPs.
The Ministry of Home Affairs in March 2019 had placed orders for design, construction and supply of nine FBOPs for the water wing of the BSF.
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The FBOPs with an overall length of 46 meters and a breadth of 12 meters are designed for deployment in the inland waters of India, specifically in the Creek area of Kutch (Gujarat) and Sunderbans of West Bengal.
The vessels are designed in-house by CSL and classed by the Indian Register of Shipping.
Each FBOP vessel is designed with stowage arrangements for four fast patrol boats, which can be launched and hoisted using its own davit system.
The vessel shall act as the floating base for the flotilla of fast patrol boats. The vessel is to supply petrol, freshwater, and provisions to the smaller boats.
The floating BOPs are the posts running in rivers, streams, and seas, which can move from one place to another.
A large area of the southern part of West Bengal adjoining Bangladesh comes in the Mangrove-forest, Sundarbans. Apart from this, a large delta is also formed here due to the meeting of rivers in the Bay of Bengal.
In such a situation, instead of making a permanent post in this area, the BSF converted the ship itself into a floating-BOP floating in the water.
Like the Sundarbans, the Sir Creek area of Gujarat adjoining Pakistan is also covered with rivers and streams. In such a situation, BSF has also deployed floating-BOP along with permanent border posts there.
Cochin Shipyard Limited is a ship manufacturing company fully owned by the Central government and in the last three decades, the company has emerged as a forerunner in the Indian Shipbuilding and ship repair industry.
This yard can build and repair the largest vessels in India. The first Greenfield and presently the most modern shipbuilding yard in India, it has an enviable reputation for building high-quality ships.
