INS Brahmaputra in Mauritius – December 10-27
At the request of the Mauritian government, the government of India has deployed Indian Naval Ship Brahmaputra in Mauritian waters from December 10-27 to conduct joint patrolling and surveillance of the EEZ of Mauritius.
The primary objective of the visit of INS Brahmaputra to Mauritian waters is to undertake EEZ surveillance and joint anti-piracy patrols to reinforce deterrence against piracy and illegal fishing. The ship has participated in many anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean and has also undertaken various successful humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions across the world.
During the course of its deployment the ship visited the outer islands of Agalega on December 10 for embarking the NCG personnel for joint operations. During her current mission, the ship has already covered a distance of approximately 1200 nautical miles (2160 km) and sanitised an area of 72,000 sq. nautical miles (233,280 sq km) of the Mauritian EEZ. The ship is also scheduled to undertake EEZ surveillance and provide Outer Island support to St Brandon and Rodrigues Islands during its deployment. Officers onboard INS Brahmaputra will undertake harbour training exercises and impart Damage Control, Fire-Fighting weapon maintenance, boarding operations and marine engineering maintenance training during the ship’s three calls on Port Louis from December 12-15, December 19-20 and December 24-26.
INS Brahmaputra is a state-of-the-art guided missile frigate, built in India at M/s GRSE, Kolkata. The ship has a Chetak helicopter which will undertake regular flying in Mauritian watersfor joint EEZ Surveillance and Outer Island Support in conjunction with the Maritime Air Squadron (MAS) of the NCG. The ship is commanded by Captain A.K. Agarwal, a navigation and direction specialist.
This is the fifteenth Indian naval ship visit, since 2009, for the purpose of undertaking dedicated EEZ surveillance.
* Published in print edition on 14 December 2012
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