The Indian Navy-led Sea Vigil-26 exercise tested coastal security readiness off Visakhapatnam on Friday, with naval, Coast Guard, police, customs and other maritime agencies conducting coordinated surveillance and vessel-interdiction operations in the Bay of Bengal.
The fifth edition of the pan-India Coastal Defence Exercise involved the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, Coastal Security Police, Customs and other maritime agencies. Fishing and coastal communities also participated in the exercise, reflecting their role in the country’s coastal surveillance network.
Sea Vigil-26 is being conducted in two phases. The Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation phase runs from November 11 to 17, followed by the sea phase on November 18 and 19. The Visakhapatnam activities on Friday formed part of the tactical phase of the exercise.
Six activities were undertaken off the Visakhapatnam coast. These included joint patrolling near Visakhapatnam Harbour by the Navy’s Sagar Prahari Bal, Customs and the Central Industrial Security Force. Coastal Security Police and the Sagar Prahari Bal also carried out joint access monitoring at Visakhapatnam Fishing Harbour.
In another operation, an Immediate Support Vessel of the Indian Navy investigated a suspicious fishing vessel at sea. The exercise also included a slithering operation by Navy Marine Commandos, known as MARCOS, and a boarding operation on a suspicious merchant vessel.
Coastal surveillance was conducted by an Immediate Support Vessel and INS Tarmugli. The activities were designed to assess the operational readiness of maritime security agencies, the effectiveness of inter-agency coordination and the functioning of existing coastal security arrangements.
The exercise places Visakhapatnam’s harbour and fishing infrastructure within a wider coastal security network. The city is a major maritime centre on India’s eastern coast, and the operations covered both port-linked areas and fishing activity. The participation of fishing and coastal communities is significant because local maritime users can provide surveillance inputs across areas that are difficult for agencies to monitor continuously.
Sea Vigil was conceptualised in 2018 in the aftermath of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and instituted to strengthen maritime security. Its design brings together agencies responsible for coastal surveillance, harbour access, customs enforcement, industrial security and responses at sea.
The Visakhapatnam exercise therefore tested more than individual agency capabilities. Its activities examined how agencies share operational responsibilities across a harbour, a fishing facility and offshore waters, including how suspicious vessels are identified, monitored and boarded. The evaluation will also cover the readiness of personnel and the effectiveness of established coastal security arrangements.
The Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation phase will continue through November 17. The sea phase of Sea Vigil-26 is scheduled for November 18 and 19, completing the exercise’s two-stage assessment.
