Coastal defence Exercise "Sea Vigil" concluded successfully

The Navy along with the Coast Guard successfully conducted the two-day Coastal defense exercise 'Sea Vigil' in close coordination with all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing and coastal communities on Wednesday.

The mega exercise undertaken along the entire 7516.6 km coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone of India with over 30 ships and aircraft of Indian Navy and Coast Guard as well as 85 patrol boats manned by various security agencies participated in the exercise at West Bengal , Odhisa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nandu and Puducherry is the first of its kind.

Whilst the Marine police boats were operating up to five miles from the coast, Navy and Coast guard had deployed their assets on the high seas.

During the exercise, all coastal police stations and control rooms, fishing harbours and landing centres, port control rooms, and other operational centres of Navy and Coast guard were fully activated.

Security was beefed up at all vital installations/ assets and SPM's off Visakhapatnam, Paradip and KG Basin. Audit of International Ship and Port Facility Security(ISPS) code was carried out by ports. On similar lines all agencies concerned with maritime security assessed their own organisations to identify gaps and address them on priority.

Additionally, multi-agency teams also evaluated the security set up implemented by agencies at fish landing centres, police control rooms and ports amongst others. Critical areas and processes including inter-agency coordination, information sharing and technical surveillance were also assessed.

The conduct of this exercise has been facilitated by Ministries of Defence, Home Affairs, Shipping, Petroleum and Natural Gas, Fisheries, Customs, State Governments, Union Territories and other agencies of the Centre/ State.