The Navy said on Thursday that Exercise Sea Vigil-22, a two-day exercise in coastal defence, was carried out from November 15 to 16.
The conceptual and geographic scope of Sea Vigil encompassed scenarios for both peacetime and times of conflict along the nation’s entire coastline and EEZ.
It further stated that shore-based mitigating measures in case of any coastal security breach had been verified.
More than 17 government entities from nine coastal states and four union territories that are involved in the coastal defence system and coastal security framework participated in the exercise.
All maritime security services participated in the greatest numbers in this year’s Sea Vigil exercise.
The Indian Navy, Coast Guard, States Marine, Coastal Police, Customs, Forest Department, Port Authorities, and Private Operators all sent more than 500 surface assets to the drill, according to the Navy.
The Navy and Coast Guard ships and aircraft maintained constant surveillance over the entire coastline.
According to officials, helicopters were also put to use to support special operations soldiers working from offshore platforms.
The Navy stated that because ports serve as the hub of seaborne trade, the exercise also confirmed their security measures and evaluated the efficacy of their crisis management strategies for all ports.
The state police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos and commandos from National Security Guard were exercised to tackle acts of maritime terrorism, it added.
In keeping with the Prime Minister’s vision of giving impetus to NCC, enthusiastic participation by more than 800 NCC cadets was witnessed all across the coastal states and UTs. Participation of NCC cadets in an actual nationwide exercise resulted in enhanced awareness and involvement amongst the cadets, the Navy said.
The exercise also verified the National Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence (NC3I) Network’s technical surveillance infrastructure. According to the report, the coordination of the surveillance and information-dissemination process was handled by the Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram and its numerous nodes throughout the IN and CG stations.
The exercise’s intended goals were achieved thanks to the enthusiastic participation of all parties involved. The exercise will significantly improve coastal defence and national security in the marine domain thanks to the cooperation and coordination among the numerous agencies participating. This is encouraging evidence of the progress made in the field of coastal defence.
