NEW DELHI, May 2: The Indian Navy, which carried out Operation Samudra Setu last year to bring back approximately 4000 Indians who were stranded in neighbouring countries as a result of COVID 19, has been deployed again this time to transport liquid medical oxygen from various countries.
Seven Indian Naval ships, namely Kolkata, Kochi, Talwar, Tabar, Trikand, Jalashwa, and Airavat, have been deployed in support of the nation’s battle against Covid-19 as part of operation ‘Samudra Setu II’ for the shipment of liquid medical oxygen-filled cryogenic containers and related medical equipment.
In a tweet, the Indian Navy Spokesperson at IHQ MoD(Navy) & DPR, Min of Defence said, “#INSTalwar with 40 MT Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) embarked, is homebound. #INSKolkata heading to #Doha, Qatar for embarking medical supplies followed by #Kuwait for LMO tanks. #INSAiravat diverted to enter #Singapore for embarking LMO tanks”.
The Defence Ministry said in a statement that INS Kolkata and INS Talwar, mission deployed in the Persian Gulf, were the first batch of ships that were immediately diverted for the role and arrived in the port of Manama, Bahrain, on Friday. The INS Talwar, carrying 40 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO), is returning home.
On the Eastern seaboard, INS Airavat has also been diverted for the mission, while INS Jalashwa, the Landing Platform/Dock (LPD) that played a key role in op Samudra Setu last year, has been pulled out of maintenance, readied, and sailed out to supplement the effort.
The INS Kolkata has reached Doha, Qatar, to embark medical supplies and will then travel to Kuwait to embark Liquid Oxygen tanks.
The INS Airavat is set to reach Singapore to embark liquid oxygen tanks, and the INS Jalashwa is waiting in the area to embark medical supplies on short notice.
The second batch of ships, consisting of the Kochi, Trikand, and Tabar missions, which were stationed in the Arabian Sea, have also been diverted to assist the national effort.
The Southern Naval Command is preparing the Landing Ship Tank INS Shardul to enter the operation within 48 hours.
The statement further added, Indian Navy also has the capability to send more ships if the need arises to further the nation’s war against COVID-19. In keeping with the attributes of sea power mobility, it is critical that the ships be battle ready and capable of meeting any contingency.
(Venkatesh Iyer)