New Delhi: More than 17 government agencies from nine Coastal States and four Union Territories participated in the third edition Coastal Defence exercise Sea Vigil-22 that concluded on Wednesday.
The two-day exercise conducted from 15-16 November was conducted by the Indian Navy in coordination with the Coast Guard and other ministries entrusted with the task of maritime activities.
“This edition of exercise Sea Vigil saw the largest participation from all maritime security agencies. More than 500 surface assets from the Indian Navy (IN), Coast Guard (CG), States Marine/ Coastal Police, Customs, Forest Department, Port Authorities and private operators participated in the exercise,” the Ministry of Defence said.
The entire coastline was kept under surveillance by the IN and CG ships and aircraft. Helicopters were also pressed into service to reinforce Special Operations personnel operating onboard offshore platforms.
The exercise also validated the technical surveillance infrastructure called the National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network, it said.
The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included contingencies ranging from Peace to War-time across the entire coastline and EEZ of the country. In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in Coastal Security mechanism were also validated.
As ports form the nerve centre of sea borne trade, security mechanism of ports was also validated during the exercise and the crisis management plans of all ports were assessed for their effectiveness to tackle emergencies, the ministry said.
The State Police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos and Commandos from National Security Guard were exercised to tackle acts of maritime terrorism, it added.
The exercise was conceptualised in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted towards enhancing the maritime security since the 26/11 Mumbai attack, an official release had said.
The exercise provides an opportunity, at the apex level, to assess the preparedness in the domain of Maritime Security and Coastal Defence.
