Navy launches Covid relief operation; 9 warships reach India with oxygen and medical equipment from abroad

New Delhi: The Indian Navy has taken forward its Covid Relief Operations Samudra Setu II with ships of the three Naval Commands at Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, and Kochi. These ships have been deployed to ship liquid medical oxygen and related medical equipment from friendship nations in the Persian Gulf and Southeast Asia.

The Indian Navy ship Talwar arrived on the western seaboard on May 5, in the port of New Mangalore, Karnataka, carrying two 27-tonne liquid oxygen tanks from Bahrain. INS Kolkata, stationed in the Persian Gulf, also left Kuwait on 5 May, carrying two 27-ton oxygen tanks, 400 oxygen cylinders and 47 concentrators. In addition, there are four warships in Qatar and Kuwait, which will reach home from these countries with nine oxygen tanks with a capacity of 27 tons and more than 1500 oxygen cylinders.

On the eastern seaboard, the Indian Navy ship Airavat today departed Singapore with more than 3600 oxygen cylinders, eight 27-ton (216-ton) oxygen tanks, 10,000 rapid antigen detection test kits and 7 concentrators. While INS Jalashv is also stationed in the area to start a medical center immediately on any information.

INS Shardul, SNC’s landing ship tank at Kochi, is on its way to the Persian Gulf to bring three liquid oxygen filled cryogenic containers. It is worth noting here that INS Jalashwa and INS Shardul also participated in Operation Samundra Setu last year to bring back the stranded Indian nationals abroad.

The deployment of nine warships as part of ‘Operation Operation Samudra Setu II’ is part of a series of efforts by the Government of India and the Indian Navy to meet the oxygen requirement in the country.