Exercise Sea Vigil 2022, the two-day coastal defense exercise took place from November 15-16, 2022. Approximately 17 maritime security agencies from nine coastal states and four union territories participating in the coastal defense mechanism and at Coastal Security Construction participated in the exercise. .
Boarding operation during Exercise Sea Vigil 2022
A video of a spectacular boarding operation exercise was viewed. In the video, maritime security personnel were seen climbing the ropes and boarding the vessel and confronting the enemy later taking it hostage. Notably, this exercise is used during naval warfare where combatants invade and overrun enemy personnel on board to capture and destroy the enemy ship.
According to Indian Navy contributions, more than 500 surface assets from Indian Navy (IN), Coast Guard (CG), States Maritime/Coastal Police, Customs, Forest Department, Port Authority and private operators participated in the exercise. During the exercise, the entire coastline was monitored by Indian Navy, Coast Guard vessels and aircraft. Helicopters have also been put into service to reinforce the special operations personnel operating on board the offshore platforms.
The objective of the exercise was to ensure cooperation and coordination between the various agencies in order to strengthen coastal defense and national security in the maritime domain.
What is Sea Vigil 2022
This national-level coastal defense exercise was conceptualized in 2018 to validate various measures that have been instituted to enhance maritime security since ’26/11′. Coastal security being a major subset of coastal defense construction, the concept of “Sea Vigil” is to activate the coastal security apparatus across India and assess the overall coastal defense mechanism.
The scale and conceptual scope of the exercise is unprecedented in terms of geographic scope, number of actors involved, number of participating units and objectives to be achieved. The exercise is a preparation towards the large operational Theater Level Readiness Exercise (TROPEX), which the Indian Navy conducts every two years. Sea Vigil and TROPEX together cover all the challenges of maritime security. While smaller-scale exercises are regularly conducted in coastal states, including combined exercises between neighboring states, the conduct of Exercise Sea Vigil at the national level aims to serve a larger purpose. It provides an opportunity, at the senior level, to assess our readiness in the area of maritime security and coastal defence.
