(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles' patrol ship Topaz is due back in the country early next month after completing a refit programme in India, an official of the Seychelles Coast Guard confirmed on Monday.

PS Topaz was handed over to the commander of Seychelles Coast Guard Simone Dine last week after an 11-month refit undertaken by the Indian Navy at the Naval dockyard in Visakhapatnam. 

According to the The New Indian Express PS Topaz has received various upgrades in machinery, equipment and habitability.  The ship is now fitted with the latest navigation, communication and weaponry to enhance its performance in the upcoming years.

PS Topaz was the first maritime patrol vessel gifted to Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian ocean, by the Indian government in 2005 to strengthen the strategic partnership between the two nations and work together to ensure the safety of the  region.

It was actively involved in anti-piracy operations between 2008 and 2012 when the western Indian Ocean was being threatened by the scourge.

The ship, used as a patrol vessel by Seychelles Coast Guard, is a fast attack craft which served the Indian Navy from 2001 to 2005.

The Indian government gifted the island nation two other vessels. One was the PS Constant in 2014, named after one of the country’s main fishing banks in the southern part of the Seychelles’ archipelago.

Seychelles also received Hermes in 2016, a new, speedy interceptor boat being used for coastal surveillance and search and rescue operations.

There are four other patrol vessels in the Seychelles Coast Guard fleet – Etoile, Andromache, La Fleche and Le Vigilant.