Indian Navy concludes 'Sea Vigil' exercise to strengthen maritime security

The fourth edition of the PanIndia Coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil 24 concluded successfully on Thursday The exercise was conducted in two phases PhaseI extended from November 1319 while PhaseII was conducted over a 36hour period across all coastal states and Union Territories of India The exercise demonstrated Indiarsquos unwavering commitment to strengthening its maritime security and coastal defence mechanismsSpanning the entirety of Indiarsquos 11098 km coastline and its Exclusive Economic Zone of 24 million square kilometers Sea Vigil 24 witnessed the participation of more than 21 agencies across six ministries These included the Indian Navy Army Air Force Indian Coast Guard State Marine Police Customs Border Security Force BSF Central Industrial Security Force CISF Port Authorities and Fisheries department among othersThe two days of PhaseII of the exercise witnessed extensive deployment of more than 550 surface assets from various maritime security agencies and 60 air sorties with flying time of about 200 hours along the entire coastline of the countryCoastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation CDSRE phase of the exercise conducted for over a period of seven days prior commencement of tactical phase witnessed a comprehensive audit of over 950 critical coastal locations The audit included Fishing Landing Centres Lighthouses Major and NonMajor ports Coastal Police Stations offshore assets Coastal VAs VPs and others Notably for the first time officials from the National Security Council Secretariat participated in the CDSRE activities in Gujarat and West BengalFocus and objectivesSea Vigil 24 focused on enhancing coastal defence of the country Enhancing security of vital maritime assets such as Oil Rigs Single Point Moorings SPMs Cable Landing Stations NonMajor Ports and nuclear installations along the coast has been one of the major focus areas during this exercise and numerous initiatives were taken towards it The Indian Air force has deployed Air Defence Systems on offshore platformsOil Rigs to secure offshore infrastructure Special emphasis was provided for safety and security of merchant ships wherein simulated hijacking Naval Cooperation and Guidance to Shipping and rerouting of Indian merchant vessels was undertaken Fishing communities of all states participated actively in the exercise and had enthusiastically been involved in various duties with the maritime forcesThe exercise also featured an expanded community outreach programme aimed at fostering grassroots awareness of maritime security in youth especially National Cadet Corps NCC Bharat Scouts and Guides and students of coastal areas The initiatives were organised by the Navy to build a robust securityconscious coastal ecosystem which would reinforce nations coastal defenceStrengthening interagency coordinationAs a key component of Indiarsquos Coastal Defence Architecture Sea Vigil 24 served as a platform for evaluating interagency coordination and identifying gaps in Indiarsquos coastal security infrastructure The seamless collaboration between the participating agencies highlighted their readiness to counter evolving maritime threatsLegacy and visionSince its inception in 2018 Sea Vigil has played a pivotal role in Indiarsquos coastal defence preparedness By simulating realtime scenarios the exercise provides valuable insights into the nationrsquos maritime defence capabilities The lessons learnt from the exercise aid in making the Coastal Defence Architecture more robust and resilient to the prevailing situationThe successful culmination of Sea Vigil 24 underscores Indiarsquos steadfast resolve to safeguard its maritime borders and Indian Navyrsquos commitment to handle its responsibilities of lsquoOverall Maritime Securityrsquo With enhanced interagency cooperation robust preparedness and active community engagement the exercise marks another milestone in fortifying the nationrsquos Coastal Defence posture against emerging security challenges