Indian Coast Guard Offshore Patrol Vessel 'Sajag', which was commissioned in May 2021, was constructed by

Correct — D, M/s Goa Shipyard Limited. Sajag belongs to a series of offshore patrol vessels designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited for the Indian Coast Guard, and it was commissioned in May 2021. Goa Shipyard is the defence public sector yard that specialises in exactly this class — patrol vessels of a few thousand tonnes with a helicopter deck, built for long endurance rather than for heavy weapons, and used for exclusive economic zone surveillance, anti-smuggling work, pollution response and search and rescue. The names in the series follow a pattern of their own, Shaunak, Sujeet, Sarthak, Sajag and Sujay among them.

• (a)M/s Bharati Shipyard Limited — A private yard, later renamed Bharati Defence and Infrastructure, which built smaller commercial and offshore support vessels. It is not the builder of this Coast Guard series.
• (b)M/s Cochin Shipyard Limited — Cochin Shipyard's headline work of the period was the first indigenous aircraft carrier, later commissioned as INS Vikrant, along with large commercial vessels and ship repair.
• (c)M/s Hindustan Shipyard Limited — The Visakhapatnam yard under the Ministry of Defence, whose work has centred on submarine refits and on cargo and support vessels rather than this patrol class.

India's warship building is spread across yards with distinct specialisations — Mazagon Dock for destroyers and submarines, Garden Reach for frigates and corvettes, Cochin Shipyard for the aircraft carrier and large hulls, Hindustan Shipyard for refits and support vessels, and Goa Shipyard for the Coast Guard's patrol fleet and offshore vessels. Knowing the specialisation is usually enough to answer a question of this kind without recalling the individual ship.

The Indian Coast Guard, raised in 1978 and functioning under the Ministry of Defence, does the work that falls between policing and naval warfare — maritime law enforcement inside the exclusive economic zone, fisheries protection, marine environment protection and rescue. Its fleet is therefore made of patrol vessels rather than combatants, and the yard that supplies most of them is Goa Shipyard.

• ICGS Sajag is an offshore patrol vessel built by Goa Shipyard Limited and commissioned in May 2021.
• The Indian Coast Guard was formally established in 1978 and works under the Ministry of Defence.
• Offshore patrol vessels carry a helicopter deck and are built for endurance rather than heavy armament.
• Cochin Shipyard built India's first indigenous aircraft carrier, commissioned as INS Vikrant in 2022.
• Hindustan Shipyard at Visakhapatnam works largely on refits and support vessels.

• Assuming the largest and best-known yard built the ship.
• Confusing an offshore patrol vessel with a naval combatant of similar size.

A recall item that becomes easy once the yards are sorted by what they specialise in.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which shipyard built India's first indigenous aircraft carrier?

  • (a)Goa Shipyard Limited
  • (b)Cochin Shipyard Limited
  • (c)Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders
  • (d)Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers

  Answer(b) Cochin Shipyard Limited — the carrier was later commissioned as INS Vikrant.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  The Indian Coast Guard functions under which ministry?

  • (a)Ministry of Home Affairs
  • (b)Ministry of Defence
  • (c)Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways
  • (d)Ministry of Earth Sciences

  Answer(b) Ministry of Defence — it is an armed force of the Union, distinct from the central armed police forces.