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

By simulating real-time scenarios, the exercise provides valuable insights into the nation’s maritime defence capabilities.

The fourth edition of the Pan-India Coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil 24 concluded successfully on Thursday. The exercise was conducted in two phases: Phase-I extended from November 13-19 while Phase-II was conducted over a 36-hour period, across all coastal states and Union Territories of India. The exercise demonstrated India's unwavering commitment to strengthening its maritime security and coastal defence mechanisms.

Spanning the entirety of India's 11,098 km coastline and its Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.4 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 others.

The two days of Phase-II 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 country.

Coastal 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 Non-Major 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 Bengal.

Focus and objectives
Sea 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, Non-Major 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 platforms/Oil 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 re-routing 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 forces.

The 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 security-conscious coastal ecosystem which would reinforce nations coastal defence.

Strengthening inter-agency coordination
As a key component of India's Coastal Defence Architecture, Sea Vigil 24 served as a platform for evaluating inter-agency coordination and identifying gaps in India's coastal security infrastructure. The seamless collaboration between the participating agencies highlighted their readiness to counter evolving maritime threats.

Legacy and vision
Since its inception in 2018, Sea Vigil has played a pivotal role in India's coastal defence preparedness. By simulating real-time scenarios, the exercise provides valuable insights into the nation's maritime defence capabilities. The lessons learnt from the exercise aid in making the Coastal Defence Architecture more robust and resilient to the prevailing situation.

The successful culmination of Sea Vigil 24 underscores India's steadfast resolve to safeguard its maritime borders and Indian Navy's commitment to handle its responsibilities of ‘Overall Maritime Security'. With enhanced inter-agency cooperation, robust preparedness, and active community engagement, the exercise marks another milestone in fortifying the nation's Coastal Defence posture against emerging security challenges.