ICGS Sachet is the Indian Coast Guard's latest and largest offshore patrol vessel (OPV). Sachet is seventh ship in the OPV and the first ship from the second batch ordered by Indian Coast Guard and has been built by Goa Shipyard Limited.[1] The vessel was commissioned to coast guard service on 15 May 2020 by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. The commissioning is special as this was the first ever digital commissioning of any Indian Coast Guard's ship due to global pandemic COVID-19.[2] Sachet will be extensively used for Exclusive Economic Zone and other duties as it is set to be exploited extensively. The vessel will be under the command of Deputy Inspector General Rajesh Mittal.[2]
The vessel was laid down on 20 March 2017[3] and was subsequently launched on 21 February 2019.[4] Goa Shipyard delivered the ship to Indian Coast Guard on 24 February 2020.[5] With the commissioning of Sachet and other two interceptor craft, Indian Coast Guard became a force having 150 ships and boats with various other ship is construction.[2]
On 19 July 2024, Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) Mumbai of ICG received distress call container carrier MV Maersk Frankfurt 50 nm off Karwar about a major fire onboard. Immediately, ICGS Sahet, Sujeet and Samrat along with a Dornier and a ALH Dhruv were deployed by Coast Guard District HQ No 11 (Goa) for aerial surveillance operations. ICGS Samudra Prahari also provided support. As of 20 July, after 12 hours of effort, the fire in the front section of the ship was suppressed but the fire in the midship section was ablaze. ICG is preparing for the provision of Dry Chemical Powder (DCP) bags and balls to support firefighting operations.[6] [7] As of 21 July, after 24 hours of distress call, the ship was 17 miles off Karwar and ICG was battling smoke and small fires onboard the container ship. ICG had decided to use DCP to douse the fire. One Filipino crew member died in the incident. The cause of the fire is expected to be a short circuit after which the fire spread to the cargo classified as International Maritime Dangerous Goods (IMDG) that was on board, according to a report. The ship was enroute from Mundra port, India to Colombo port, Sri Lanka.[8] On 22 July, ICG's Deputy Inspector General Bhatia confirmed that the fire is under control after using 150 kg of DCP bags from helicopters. There were no fire in the dangerous goods secrion of the ship. Small fires were still on, four vessels of ICG were near the ship and helicopters were taking routine visits. The ship was out of danger. No oil pollution is reported but adequate preparation has been taken Indian Coast Guard has asked Karnataka, Goa and Kerala to activate the pollution response mechanism.[9] [10] By 30 July, Operation Sahayata was complete and a total of five ships, one Dornier and two Dhruv helicopters were deployed for the job. More than 1200 kgs of DCP was used. Infrared images confirmed that hotspots has reduced and smoldering was reduced to one small part of the ship. There were no more pollution risks and the ship was stable and operational.[11]