The ministry was keen on meeting the August 15 deadline, so that the tricolour could symbolically be hoisted atop the ship by August 15. The hoisting was carried out atop the vessel at Hamad port in Qatar on Thursday in the presence of the Indian crew of the ship, who were there to take charge of it.
“Every addition to our fleet is a step towards a stronger, self-reliant maritime India. With the growing fleet of Indian flagged vessels, we are moving towards enabling our maritime goal of becoming Atmanirbhar and propel the economic growth towards becoming a Viksit Bharat, the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” said Union Ports, Shipping and Waterways Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. “It is also a matter of pride that this addition comes as the nation celebrates its 79th Independence Day.”
Sahyadri meets stringent international safety and environmental standards, said a ministry note.
“The South Korea built 225-metre-long, 36-metre-wide carrier can transport up to 82,000 cubic metres of LPG. The induction raises SCI’s deadweight tonnage to 5.2 million and its owned fleet to 57 vessels, including crude and product tankers, bulk carriers, container ships, gas carriers and offshore vessels,” it said.
The acquisition is the first under a July agreement to purchase two VLGCs of the same capacity. The second vessel, to be renamed Shivalik, will join later this financial year.
