‘Sea Vigil-24,’ an exercise to strengthen India’s coastal security framework

Visakhapatnam: Focusing on the comprehensive preparations for ‘Sea Vigil-24,’ the main planning conference for coastal defence exercise, slated for November was carried out.

Chaired by Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, Deputy Chief of Naval Staff (DCNS) in a hybrid mode, the nationwide coastal defence exercise will see simultaneous activation of the entire coastal defence and security mechanism across all coastal states and Union Territories.

‘Sea Vigil-24’ is designed to test and validate the preparedness of all maritime stakeholders, including the Indian Navy (IN), Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), State Marine Police, fisheries, customs, Intelligence Bureau (IB), Directorate General of Lighthouses and Lightships (DGLL), oil operators apart from other central and state agencies.

The exercise aims at assessing the efficacy of inter-agency coordination, organisational synergy and response mechanisms in addressing potential security challenges along with the Indian coastline.

The discussions at the conference focussed on preparedness of stakeholders for the successful conduct of ‘Sea Vigil-24’, outlining the key result areas (KRAs) to be achieved and identifying gaps in the current setup that need to be addressed.

‘Sea Vigil-24’ serves as a cornerstone exercise to strengthen India’s coastal security framework, ensuring robust surveillance and seamless response to any emergent threat. The Indian Navy remains steadfast in its commitment to securing the nation’s coastline with the ‘Sea Vigil-24’ playing a pivotal role in bolstering this effort.

Earlier, a joint review of the preparatory activities of the Sea Vigil 2024 was carried out by Commodore Rajneesh Sharma, Naval Officer-in-Charge, Andhra Pradesh, along with Gopinath Jatti, DIG, Coastal Security Police. The discussions centred on enhancing coastal security in the state along with strengthening cooperation and operational parameters.