6,000 boats and 40,000 fishermen escorted safely to harbours in 2020, says Indian Coast Guard

Ahead of its 45th Raising Day on Monday, February 1st, the Indian Coast Guard(ICG) has said that their force has grown from operating seven surface platforms in 1978 to operating 156 ships and 62 aircraft as on date. The Indian Coast Guard is the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world and is slated to have 200 surface platforms and 80 aircraft by 2025.

Amid the pandemic year, the Coast Guard has been deploying 50 ships and 12 aircraft every day to maintain vigil within India’s Exclusive Economic Zone(EEZ), which is approximately over 2.3 million square kms.

The Coast Guard’s actions at sea enabled seizure of contraband worth about ₹ 1,500 Crore and apprehension of more than 10 foreign fishing boats with 80 miscreants illegally operating in the Indian EEZ in the bygone year.

Add WION as a Preferred Source

6,000 fishing boats with about 40,000 fishermen were escorted to safe harbours during the passage of 11 cyclones in the previous year, this is in line with the ICG’s ‘Preventive and Measured Response’stance of operations introduced around 2019.

Some of the highlights of the bygone year have been - dousing a raging fire onboard the 333 M long Very Large Crude Carrier MT New Diamond with about 3 Lakh Metric Tonnes of crude oil off Sri Lanka, thereby averting a major ecological disaster.

In addition to this, ICG also provided Pollution Response assistance to Mauritius during the grounding of Merchant Vessel Wakashio and provided 30Tons of Pollution Response equipment, besides training.

In consonance with the Prime Minister’s vision of ‘SAGAR’, Security And Growth of All in the Region, besides rescue and aid, ICG is also collaborating with littoral countries to combat transnational maritime crimes and enhance maritime safety.

ICG conducted SAR Exercise-2020 (SAREX-2020) to validate the existing strategy for undertaking Mass Rescue Operations. The service is also working in close coordination with Central and State agencies to put in place a robust Coastal Security mechanism