INDIAN COAST GUARD- A voyage into the 45th year

(822 words)

India’s frontier force, the Indian Coast Guard is a multi-mission organization, conducting round-the-year real-life operations at sea and is responsible for the surveillance of vast and vulnerable coastline over 7600Kms. Indian Coast Guard is celebrating its 45th Raising Day on 01 Feb 2021. From a modest beginning with just 07 surface platforms in 1978, ICG has grown into a formidable force with 156 ships and 62 aircraft in its inventory and is likely to achieve targeted force levels of 200 surface platforms and 80 aircraft by 2025.

Mission

• To protect our ocean and offshore wealth including oil, fish, and minerals

• To assist mariners in distress and safeguard life and property at sea

• To enforce maritime laws with respect to the sea, poaching, smuggling, and narcotics

• To preserve marine environment and ecology and protect rare species

• To collect scientific data and back-up the navy during the war

The Indian Coast Guard Ensign

The Blue Colour of the Indian Coast Guard ensign signifies a ship on Government Duty. On the Indian Coast Guard ensign, there is a National Flag on the top left quadrant and a Coast Guard crest in the fly part of the flag.

Inception

The deliberations, in the 1970s, of the United Nations Conferences on the Law of the Sea led to the establishment of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).In 1976, India passed the Maritime Zones Act to claim sovereign rights over the vast sea area of the Exclusive Economic Zone.

In one stroke, India acquired 2.01 million sq kms of the ocean for extensive exploitation of all living and non-living resources, and this vast area clearly needed to be policed.

Sea-borne smuggling across the seas was rampant and threatened the nation’s economy. The existing maritime agencies such as the Customs and the Fisheries Department did not have the capability to contain this large scale smuggling activity and intercept illegal vessels even within territorial waters. Against this backdrop, the ‘Nag Committee’ was set up in 1970, to examine the growing menace of smuggling. The committee recommended the need for a separate marine force to deal with smuggling activities. The permanent Coast Guard was constituted as an armed force of the Union, under the Coast Guard Act – 1978, which came into force on that day.

Recent Achievements

• True to its motto “Vayam Rakshamah” meaning “We Protect”, the Indian Coast Guard despite the restrictions imposed by the ‘COVID-19’ pandemic has maintained 24×7 vigil in the Exclusive Economic Zone, by deploying about 50 ships and 12 aircraft daily.

• The ‘Preventive and Measured Response’ stance of operations introduced just over a year ago, ensured that more than 6,000 fishing boats with about 40,000 fishermen were escorted to safe harbors during the passage of 11 cyclones last year, thus averting loss of lives and property at sea.

• Indian Coast Guard created maritime history in dousing a raging fire onboard the 333 M long Very Large Crude Carrier Motor Tanker New Diamond with about 3 Lakh Metric Tonnes of crude oil off Sri Lanka, thereby averting a major ecological disaster.

• In May 2020, Indian Coast Guard Ship (ICGS) Sachet and two interceptor boats (IBs) C-450 and C-451 were commissioned in Goa. The ICGS Sachet, the first in the series of five offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) has been designed & built indigenously by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) and is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment.

• OPV Sarthak is the 4th in the series of five OPVs. It has been designed & built indigenously by M/s Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of ‘Make in India’. The Ship is fitted with state-of-the-art Navigation and Communication equipment, sensor, and machinery.

• The 105-meter long ship ‘Sachet’ displaces approximately 2,350 tons and is propelled by two 9,100 KW diesel engines designed to attain a maximum speed of 26 knots, with an endurance of 6,000 nautical miles. The ship is designed to carry a twin-engine helicopter and four high-speed boats and one inflatable boat for swift boarding and search & rescue operations.

The ship is also capable of carrying limited pollution response equipment to undertake oil spill pollution response at sea.

• The IBs C-450 and C-451 are indigenously designed & built by Larsen & Toubro Shipyard Hazira, and fitted with the latest navigation and communication equipment. The quick response capability of the IBs makes it an ideal platform to respond and thwart any emerging maritime situation.

Indian Coast Guard has been a pioneer in inducting indigenous assets which have enabled it to remain operationally available throughout the year. Further, 40 ships are in various stages of construction at different Indian Shipyards and 16 advanced light helicopters are under production at Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, Bangalore, which will provide the added strength to the surveillance capabilities of ICG to deal with the ever-dynamic maritime challenges.

Watch Now! Union Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan releases creatives prepared by @MoHFW_INDIA to address issues related to vaccine hesitancy. https://t.co/CK65XKkJft

— DrHarshVardhanOffice (@DrHVoffice) January 21, 2021

मैं ये बात फिर याद दिलाना चाहता हूं कि कोरोना वैक्सीन की 2 डोज लगनी बहुत जरूरी है: PM @narendramodi#LargestVaccineDrive pic.twitter.com/9tExbx5JEA

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 16, 2021

Prime Minister @narendramodi will launch the pan India rollout of COVID-19 vaccination drive on 16th January, 2021 at 10:30 AM via video conferencing.
This will be the world’s largest vaccination program covering the entire length and breadth of the country.

(File Pic) pic.twitter.com/1NRVZmKHCY

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 14, 2021

“This global pandemic has brought to the fore India’s national character for the entire world to behold, as a resilient and united nation.”

Wrote for the Manorama Yearbook, which is widely read across India, on the year just gone by and the quest towards an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. https://t.co/Y8Zv3pCtx2

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 14, 2021

Nagaland: First phase of the #Covishield vaccine arrives at Dimapur.@MoHFW_INDIA pic.twitter.com/qlmMCTR4yD

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 14, 2021

We are aiming to vaccinate nearly 30 crore people in the next few months. For this we have done comprehensive preparations : Prime Minister @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/flQqPUVjVG

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 11, 2021

#CoronaVirusUpdates

Media Briefing on #COVID19 by the Health Ministry will be held tomorrow, 12th Jan 2021, at 4 pm at the National Media Centre (NMC), @PIB_India.@PMOIndia @drharshvardhan @AshwiniKChoubey @DDNewslive @airnewsalerts @CovidIndiaSeva @COVIDNewsByMIB @ICMRDELHI

— Ministry of Health (@MoHFW_INDIA) January 11, 2021

वैक्सीन के ट्रांसपोर्टेशन को मंजूरी, आज से देश भर के 41 केन्द्रों में भेजी जाएगी दवाई

COVID-19 : 96.39% स्वस्थ

Telegram: https://t.co/uuZBl53ZXn pic.twitter.com/3o5MJ4O3Pn

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 8, 2021

अमरीका में वहां की संसद ने जो बाइडेन को देश का अगला राष्ट्रपति और कमलाहैरिस को उपराष्ट्रपति बनाए जाने की औपचारिक रूप से घोषणा की।
(File Pic) pic.twitter.com/ggk393Yjxn

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 7, 2021

Watch Live: PM @narendramodi dedicates New Rewari-New Madar section of Western dedicated freight corridor to the Nation via VC. https://t.co/OFpEvpzePa

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 7, 2021

West Bengal: BCCI President Sourav Ganguly discharged from Woodlands Hospital in Kolkata.

He says, “I thank the doctors at the hospital for the treatment. I am absolutely fine.” pic.twitter.com/odjiFhefpt

— Prasar Bharati News Services पी.बी.एन.एस. (@PBNS_India) January 7, 2021