The 11th edition of the Indian Coast Guard’s National Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise & Workshop (SAREX-24) will be held on Thursday and Friday.
The event, conducted under the aegis of the National Maritime Search and Rescue Board in Kerala's Kochi, will be inaugurated by Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The theme of the event, ‘Enhancing Search and Rescue capabilities through Regional Collaboration’ signifies the Indian Coast Guard's (ICG) commitment to provide assistance during large-scale contingencies regardless of location, nationality or circumstances in the Indian Search & Rescue Region and beyond, the defence ministry said in a release.
Various programmes, including table-top exercise, workshop and seminars, involving the participation of senior officials from government agencies, ministries and armed forces, various stakeholders and foreign delegates, will be held on Thursday. On Friday, the sea exercise involving two large-scale contingencies will be carried out off the Kochi coast.
Ships and aircraft of ICG, Navy, Indian Air Force, passenger vessel and tug from Cochin Port Authority and boats from the Customs will be part of the exercises on Friday.
The first contingency will simulate distress onboard a passenger vessel with 500 passengers, while the second scenario will ditching of civil aircraft with 200 passengers.
These exercises are designed not only to evaluate the efficiency of operations and coordination with national stakeholders, but also to focus on cooperative engagements with the littorals and friendly countries.
“The response matrix in the sea exercise will involve various methods to evacuate distressed passengers, wherein the advent of new-age technology using satellite-aided distress beacons, drones to deploy a life buoy, air droppable life rafts, operation of remote controlled life buoy will be demonstrated,” the defence ministry stated.
ICG Director General S. Paramesh, who is also the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority, will be among the dignitaries attending the two-day event.
