Whichever law abiding country wants, then can use navigational routes inside US EEZ as well if there is one.
Whichever law abiding country wants, then can use navigational routes inside US EEZ as well if there is one.
Whichever law abiding country wants, then can use navigational routes inside US EEZ as well if there is one.
Indian Navy seizes over 300 kg of narcotics substances worth Rs 3,000 crore
The Indian Navy ship encountered the fishing vessel while it was on a surveillance patrol in the Arabian Sea.
India's Navy Is Now a Force To Be Reckoned With
In five decades, India has seen its fleet grow from a regional “green water” naval force to a “blue water” navy.
nationalinterest.org
ONGC barge accident: Indian Navy captain recalls ‘appalling conditions at sea, 120 kmph winds, nine-metre-high waves’
As Cyclone Tauktae lashed India’s west coast, the Indian Navy launched two warships, INS Kochi and INS Kolkata, to sail through the stormy seas and pick up survivors from multiple ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Commission) support vessels that sank in the Arabian Sea on May 17. The two warships rescued 188 people from a barge and a tug which sank in the wake of the cyclone. Executive Editor Sandeep Unnithan spoke with Captain Prashant Handu, commanding officer INS Kolkata, on the rescue mission.Q. What is the situation on the west coast right now?
The situation is much better than what it was on May 17. On May 17, we had up to four to five commercial vessels operating off the west coast of Mumbai in severe distress in the aftermath of the cyclone. The conditions at sea were really appalling—it was sea state eight (World Meteorological Organisation classification of sea condition between 0-9), with winds gusting between 120-130 kmph, wave height of eight to nine metres, visibility reducing to nearly zero in blinding rain and squalls, thunderstorms.
Q. How does one carry out a search and rescue (SAR) mission in the conditions you described when the survival of a ship itself is in doubt?
As the sea state or the weather conditions worsen, it becomes more and more untenable for ships to survive and operate at sea. That is exactly what the mission of the Indian Navy is—our platforms are intended to go in harm’s way, whether in the case of enemy fire or in the face of Mother Nature’s fury. On May 17, when the storm was off Mumbai, the Maritime Operations Centre learned of the distressed vessels. Immediately, the largest ships in the command, the destroyers, were sailed out with full dispatch—we cast off in around 55 knots of wind—110 kmph winds—and left the Mumbai harbour and went towards various vessels that were in distress.
While some vessels drifted close to land and we were assured that they would be grounded and not sink, there were other vessels, like the barge P305 with over 250 souls on board, which unfortunately sank 35 nautical miles off Mumbai. The tug Varapradha also sank, leaving two souls in the water, so we reached the scene with alacrity and started picking up survivors. As you know, the survival rate in water drops with every minute that is passing—the ‘golden hour’ is very important—you have to pick up people at the earliest. In those sea conditions which I explained earlier, it would take a large amount of skilled ship handling, knowledge of your own platform, knowledge of how you can use the weather conditions to your benefit to pick up survivors. The 30-40 years of experience gained by us and by the ship’s company and the Indian Navy, which has trained us, was put to its full utilization, and we picked up many survivors. Those unfortunate ones who did not survive, we brought their bodies back to ensure closure—that much more time was spent to pick up the mortal remains of survivors.
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Q. A few days ago, your ship was bringing back oxygen containers from West Asia to the New Mangalore port, and now you are literally in the eye of the storm. What have been the learnings in these two very unique Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Response (HADR) situations?
Just prior to Operation Samudra Setu, the Western Fleet, with the fleet commander on board, was undertaking the Varuna exercise with the French Navy off the Gulf of Oman when we learnt about the shortage of oxygen. The nature of the naval platform is its flexibility and its ability of role-change. At that juncture, we finished Varuna and undertook this mission to bring a huge amount of liquid oxygen, which was straightaway given to our citizens in need, and as we were preparing for the next turnaround and bringing the next shipment of oxygen, we were pulled out and tasked to respond to the cyclone. This shows you the role change, the flexibility and the various uses to which an Indian naval platform—whether it’s a surface ship, a surveillance aircraft or helicopter—can be put in the service of the nation.
Q. Was it a conscious choice to sail out the Kolkata class destroyers because of better sea-keeping?
Absolutely. The Delhi class destroyers displace around 6,000 tonnes fully loaded—the Kolkata class destroyers (a follow-on class) displace around 8,000 tonnes. There is no other platform that could have taken the kind of pounding that we did in the storm without suffering any damage. This is a testament to Indian shipbuilding; all three Kolkata class destroyers, as you know, were built by the Mazagon Docks, Mumbai.
ONGC barge accident: Indian Navy captain recalls ‘appalling conditions at sea, 120 kmph winds, nine-metre-high waves’
Captain Prashant Handu, commanding officer of INS Kolkata, on the difficult rescue mission
Mazagon Dock to deliver INS Visakhapatnam by Oct, INS Vela by March to Indian Navy
Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Ltd (MDSL) will deliver the first of the four stealth guided missile destroyers to the Indian Navy by October and a Scorpene-class submarine by the end of the fiscal year.The state-run company under the defence ministry, which has an order book of nearly Rs 50,000 crore, will hand over Visakhapatnam-class (Project 15B) destroyer INS Visakhapatnam to the navy in the next 3-4 months. The delivery is delayed because the pandemic disrupted operations.
INS Visakhapatnam is the first of the four destroyers MDSL is building at its site in Mumbai which is also one of the largest that the Indian Navy will possess.
While INS Visakhapatnam is currently undergoing sea trials, three other destroyers of the same class – INS Mormugao, INS Imphal, INS Porbandar – are under various stages of development at MDSL.
This will be followed by the handing over of the fourth Scorpene-class submarine INS Vela by the end of the current financial year. Three such submarines have been delivered to the Indian Navy, the last one being INS Karanj in February this year.
“We are bracing to deliver one (Project) 15 Bravo destroyer named INS Vishakhapatnam by October and may be by end of this year another submarine,” said Narayan Prasad, chairman and managing director, MDSL speaking to analysts.
MDSL management said that the company has an order book of Rs 49,744 crore comprising four destroyers under Project 15 Bravo worth Rs 22,500 crore, four stealth frigates under Project 17 Alfa worth Rs 21,500 crore, six Scorpene submarines worth Rs 5500 crore of which three have been delivered.
The company also has a Rs 500 crore MRLC (medium term refit and life certification) contract for one submarine, Prasad added.
It has also bid for three cadet training ships for the Indian Navy, eight fast patrol crafts and 12 air cushion vehicles for the Coast Guard. Bids worth about Rs 1,800 crore are also being pursued with Argentina and the Suez Canal Authority of construction of 14 offshore patrol vessels.
Prasad said COVID-19 and the resultant lockdown measures taken by the government disrupted MDSL's launch schedules.
“The destroyer (INS Visakhapatnam) was to be delivered by March. There was a force majeure allocated by the government for a duration of four months. We are still falling short of three months. We have already strongly taken this with the government and within those four months the situation did not improve and it continued till October 30 and we were able to open the shipyard fully only by November 1,” Prasad added.
But the Maharashtra government relaxed its lockdown restriction in the first week of June after one full month of lockdown in May as the pace of new Covid-19 cases within the state began to soften. MDSL hopes to make up for lost time by speeding up operations.
“Whilst there has been an impact on account of the precarious situation created by this lockdown and also the stoppage of industrial oxygen supply, all this has resumed by and large to a normal standard and we should be able to catch up with whatever there is,” Prasad added.
Mazagon Dock to deliver INS Visakhapatnam by Oct, INS Vela by March to Indian Navy
INS Visakhapatnam is undergoing sea trials and three other destroyers are under various stages of development by the state-run company, which had to revise the delivery schedule because COVID-19 disrupted operations
China has become a maritime power. It’s time India caught up
Arun Prakash writes: Naval power will play a decisive role in India-China rivalry. But India needs greater vision, realistic targets and proper implementation to achieve its maritime goals.
indianexpress.com
Top Indian Navy Officer Meets with U.S. 3rd Fleet Commander in San Diego
Top Indian Navy Officer Meets with U.S. 3rd Fleet Commander in San Diego
Vice Adm. G. Ashok Kumar, the vice chief of staff for the Indian Navy, met with Vice Adm. Steve Koehler, commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet, during a visit to San Diego on June 28.
timesofsandiego.com
Indian Navy ship completes underwater survey at site of sunk vessel in Sri Lanka
The Indian Navy's Hydrographic Survey Ship INS Sarvekshak completed survey action around the stricken MV X-Press Pearl site on Friday and handed over survey data to Sri Lankan authorities.The ship, equipped with state-of-the-art survey equipment including the Side Scan Sonar, was deployed on June 25 at the request of the Government of Sri Lanka.
Survey operations were carried out in three search areas around the wreck in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Navy and the National Aquatic Resources Research and Development Agency of Sri Lanka (NARA).
The ship conducted an 807-mile Side Scan Sonar survey, identifying 54 prominent underwater debris from the MV X-Press Pearl, as well as one additional uncharted wreck.
The survey of the wreckage area will allow Sri Lankan authorities to issue advisories to both mariners and fishermen, as well as remove debris, ensuring the safety of navigation for marine traffic operating through Colombo port.
The INS Sarvekshak, based at the Southern Naval Command in Kochi, is outfitted with state-of-the-art survey equipment such as a Deep Sea Multi beam echo sounder system, Side Scan Sonar, Sound Velocity Profilers, and a fully automated digital surveying and processing system. In addition, the ship carries a Chetak helicopter, which was extensively used for aerial reconnaissance during the survey.
INS Sarvekshak has previously conducted surveys on foreign cooperation in Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Seychelles, Tanzania, and Kenya.
India and Sri Lanka share a strong bond and partnership and this survey operation has been another milestone in strengthening cooperation and understanding and reinforcing shared values between the two countries.
Indian Navy ship completes underwater survey at site of sunk vessel in Sri Lanka
The Indian Navy's INS Sarvekshak completed a survey of the MV X-Press Pearl site on Friday and handed over survey data to Sri Lankan authorities.
Indian Navy Vice Chief of Naval Staff visits Commander, U.S. 3rd Fleet
Vice Adm. G. Ashok Kumar met with Vice Adm. Steve Koehler during a visit focused on undersea domain awareness.
www.cpf.navy.mil
India to appoint National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security
Two decades after the Kargil Group of Ministers' recommendation, the Narendra Modi government is all set to create and appoint a National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC) to interface between the civilian and military maritime domain with the objective of enhancing security architecture and energy security of India. The Maritime Security Coordinator will work under Indian National Security Advisor and be the principal advisor to the government on maritime security domain.According to South Block sources, the Ministry of Defence and Military Affairs has sought Union Cabinet approval for the NMSC post and there is all likelihood that a serving or recently retired Vice Admiral of Indian Navy will be appointed to the job. The NMSC has been a long pending requirement since the Kargil GoM recommended it and its need was most felt during the 2008 Mumbai massacre when 10 Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) gunmen directed by ISI handlers in Karachi intruded into Mumbai and created mayhem with the maritime security agencies like Navy, Coast Guard and Mumbai Port all at sea figuratively. The appointment of NMSC fills the need of the hour as the Navy, Coast Guard and state maritime boards all tend to work in silos with overlapping jurisdictions and are constantly at odds with each other.
While India has suffered from sea blindness over centuries with land based security doctrines, historically and geo-strategically, the country is a maritime nation with over 7000 km of coastline and over 2 million kilometres of Exclusive Economic Zone. Over 70 per cent of Indian trade including vital crude oil is transported through sea and protection of sea shipping lanes is vital to India’s security with Modi government on June 16 clearing the Deep Ocean Mission for blue water economy.
India has nine coastal states and four union territories, who believe that maritime and coastal security is responsibility of the central government and have little to increase the maritime domain awareness.
With China moving towards a sea based security doctrine and penetrating into Indian Ocean through Pakistan and Myanmar, the post of NMSC will be vital for maritime and energy security as Beijing plans to reach to eastern sea board of Africa through Indian maritime domain.
However, the creation of NMSC is part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Act East Policy, SAGAR (Security and Growth of All in the Region), Deep Ocean Mission and the Sagarmala project to make India’s 12 major ports into world class standard.
India to appoint National Maritime Security Coordinator for maritime security
The National Maritime Security Coordinator will break the silos and cut across the turf of Navy, Coast Guard, State Maritime Boards to enhance maritime domain awareness and ensure better response. The Chinese forays into Indian Ocean via Pakistan and Myanmar will be on top of NMSC agenda.