Mumbai, Jan 21 (IANS) INS Deepak, the first of two fleet tankers built in Italy, was commissioned Friday into the Indian Navy by Defence Minister A.K. Antony at the Naval Dockyard here.

"This is a great moment for the Indian Navy. This year, there will be more acquisitions and commissioning of vessels to strengthen maritime and coastal security," Antony said on the occasion.

Antony unveiled the ship's name plaque to mark the formal induction of INS Deepak, one of the two fleet tankers built by the Italian company, Fincantieri.

The commissioning of the ship into the Western Fleet is considered a major milestone as it would revolutionise the combat support operations at sea and extend the reach of the nation's naval power.

The ship is 175-metres long and 25-metres wide with a capacity to carry 15,450 tonnes of liquid cargo, 510 tonnes of solid cargo and 16 cargo containers on the upper deck, making it one of the largest in the fleet.

It is equipped to simultaneously provide fuel for up to three ships at sea.

It also has state-of-the-art aviation facilities and can operate various types of helicopters from its deck.

The ship was designed, constructed and delivered in a record 27 months time and is a second generation ship.

The erstwhile INS Deepak, commissioned in November 1967 was decommissioned in April 1996 after 29 years of glorious service.

Indian Navy officers said the Deepak-class fleet tankers will be the mainstay tankers/support ships of the Indian Navy in the first half of the 21st century.

Present on the occasion were Indian Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, Vice Admiral Sanjeev Bhasin, the flag officer commanding in chief of the Western Naval Command and other naval and civilian officials.