Navy to hold ‘Sea Vigil-24’ exercise next week to test coastal security readiness

The Indian Navy will conduct the fourth edition of the pan-India coastal defence exercise, ‘Sea Vigil-24’, on November 20 and 21, to test the readiness of the coastal security, and will see the involvement of six ministries and 21 organisations and agencies.
Since October-end, naval officers in charge of all coastal states and Union Territories (including Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar Islands) have been conducting the Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation (cdsre) phase of the exercise, which involves a thorough audit of the complete coastal defence and security infrastructure.
This year, National Security Council Secretariat officials will also be part of Indian Navy-led CDSRE teams for the first time, along with personnel from state marine police, Coast Guard, customs, fisheries etc.
The exercise will focus on strengthening the security of coastal assets like ports, oil rigs, single-point moorings, cable landing points and critical coastal infrastructure, including the coastal population. This year, the participation by other services (Indian Army and Indian Air Force) and the planned deployment of a large number of ships and aircraft have enhanced the tempo of the exercise.
Originally conceptualised in 2018, Sea Vigil was designed to validate and enhance measures to bolster coastal defence in the aftermath of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Encompassing the entire 11,098 km coastline and the vast Exclusive Economic Zone of 2.4 million sq km, this exercise will engage complete coastal security infrastructure and all maritime stakeholders, including the fishing community and coastal population, simultaneously.
One of the aims of the exercise is to raise awareness amongst coastal communities about maritime security, and ensure the involvement of fishing communities, the coastal population and students from NCC and Bharat Scouts and Guides.

While coastal security exercises are conducted by individual coastal states and maritime security agencies regularly, Exercise Sea Vigil coordinated by the Indian Navy stands out as a national-level initiative that provides a holistic appraisal of India’s maritime defence and security capabilities.
Serving as a precursor to the Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX), conducted biennially by the Indian Navy, ‘Sea Vigil-24’ will serve as an essential measure in reinforcing India’s commitment to safeguarding its maritime boundaries and ensuring coordinated efforts among all stakeholders in coastal defence.