India will kickstart on Tuesday a two-day multi-agency military exercise covering the country's 7,516 km-long coastline and exclusive economic zone with the twin aim of checking the preparedness of various agencies to deal with any eventualities and bolster overall maritime security, officials said.
A team of CISF marine commandos rescued dozens of passengers from a sinking tourist ferry off the Mumbai coast, preventing panicked parents from throwing their children into the sea. The commandos reached the accident site within minutes and prioritized rescuing children and other vulnerable passengers. They also administered CPR to several victims and helped recover belongings from the water.
Apart from 15 teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 12 teams of State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), personnel of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Indian Coast Guard and Border Security Force (BSF) are deployed for relief and rescue operations, officials said.
While 14 fishermen were rescued on Saturday, two Naval divers were deployed to locate the others.
In a significant move, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) has accorded approval for the procurement of more than 200 BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and associated equipment for the Indian Navy at a cost of around Rs 19,000 crore, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Sri Lanka on Thursday freed 33 Indian fishermen arrested for allegedly poaching in the country's waters, days after President Mahinda Rajapaksa ordered their release as a goodwill gesture.
The Indian Navy rescued an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel with 19 Pakistani crew members and a Sri Lankan trawler in two swift operations after armed pirates hijacked the boats in the Arabian Sea amid deteriorating security situation arising out of Iran-backed Houthi rebels targeting various cargo ships in the region.
Though many fishermen were brought ashore safely and admitted to hospitals, many are yet to recover from the shock of wrestling the lashing waves and seeing death face-to-face.
Taking serious note of the incident where a merchant vessel M V Pavit ran aground at Mumbai coast on Sunday, Defence Minister A K Antony has asked Navy and Indian Coast Guard to submit a report as to how the abandoned ship entered Indian waters undetected.
The biennial Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise (TROPEX) is aimed at 'validating and refining' the Navy's concept of 'operations' as well as to test overall combat capabilities, officials said on Tuesday.
The Eastern Naval Command is all geared up to host the International Fleet Review in the Bay of Bengal off Visakhpatnam coast which begins on Wednesday, a mega event that will witness participation from nearly 50 countries.
In another feat, Lt Jamyang Tsewang, the first commissioned naval officer from Ladakh, also successfully graduated as a qualified helicopter pilot, according to the Indian Navy.
The oil spill from MSC Chitra, which collided with another cargo ship near the Mumbai coast on Saturday, has stopped, Coast Guard sources said on Monday.
A cargo ship missing for a week with 14 crew members, including Indians, is feared to have been hijacked in the piracy-prone South China Sea, prompting Malaysian maritime authorities to launch a search on Thursday.
Col Singh was a combat veteran and was awarded Sena Medal during his tenure as second-in-command of the 19 Rashtriya Rifles.
The United States coast guard used a cannon to sink a derelict and fuel-laden Japanese vessel that drifted to Alaska after the March 2011 tsunami.
"MSC Chitra has tilted 80 degrees and the total oil spill is nearly 50 tons, Arun Singh, Commandant (Operations), Coast Guard told PTI.
In a rare honour, the United States has named a mountain in Antarctica after eminent Indian-American scientist Akhouri Sinha whose pioneering biological research expedition has provided vital data about animal populations.
The sailors were rescued by a Bahrain Coast Guard helicopter when their cargo ship Siddnath capsized on Friday morning. The boat, with 1,000-tonne capacity, was carrying 485 tonnes of rice to Iraq for the India-based company Sea Star Shipping.
Tamil Nadu Police on Thursday defended its action of detaining the US ship MV Seaman Guard Ohio asserting there is prima facie case against them for illegally straying into Indian territorial waters.
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Thirty-three crew members of an American firm owned ship were on Friday arrested by Tamil Nadu police on charges of illegally carrying arms and ammunition and straying into Indian territorial waters without proper authorisation.
A day after a Pawan Hans chopper crashed into the Bombay high while carrying out night landing practice on an oil rig, one door of the helicopter has been sighted in the sea.
The search for the missing Malaysian airliner under India's 'Operation Searchlight' has been expended to the Bay of Bengal area 900km west of Port Blair by the navy, the defence ministry said on Friday.
With the revision of the HRA, which was extended to include the west coast of India in 2010, some of the country's maritime security concerns like floating armouries and proliferation of private security are likely to be addressed, the Navy said.
A Pawan Hans helicopter with two pilots on board crashed into the Arabian Sea minutes after take off from an ONGC platform this evening.
As severe cyclonic storm 'Remal' initiated its landfall process between the coasts of Bangladesh and adjoining West Bengal on Sunday evening, authorities took swift action, evacuating over 1 lakh people from vulnerable areas of the state to safety.
A replica of the HMS Bounty, a three-masted sailing ship that has appeared in two Hollywood movies, caught in Hurricane Sandy's wrath has sunk, forcing the crew to abandon the boat in rough seas off the North Carolina coast.
The authorities have called the families of the crew for carrying out DNA tests for identification of the deceased and collecting the remains and personal effects.
This is the first cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this pre-monsoon season.
Lou also spoke about China's tensions with neighbouring countries without directly mentioning the eastern Ladakh border standoff with India since May 2020 which resulted in the Galwan Valley clash in June of that year.
Taking a serious view of the suspicious movement of an American ship in Indian waters, the Centre on Monday sought a report from the Tamil Nadu government on the vessel which was detained for carrying arms and buying diesel unauthorisedly.
The operation, which the sources said was coordinated by NSA Ajit Doval, led to the rendition of the 33-year-old princess, who has said she was seeking to escape torture inflicted by her father, UAE PM and Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum.
On the sixth anniversary of the Mumbai terror attacks, the government said the overall coastal and maritime security along the entire coast is 'much stronger than before' as several steps have been taken in this direction.
The Indian Navy said it was in a high state of readiness to "deter, prevent and defeat" any "misadventure" by Pakistan in the maritime domain.
The Indian crew onboard a crippled container vessel that collided against a key bridge in Baltimore last week is healthy , according to a nonprofit organisation that has been in touch with the personnel.
The India Meteorological Department has said that the landfall process of Cyclone 'Biparjoy' has started in Saurashtra and Kutch regions of Gujarat. The landfall process will carry on till midnight with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 140 kilometres per hour, the IMD said.
A local court in Tuticorin has granted conditional bail to all the 35 crew members of a US ship, arrested on charges of illegally carrying weapons on board the vessel and straying into Indian waters.
The defence ministry on Tuesday approved the procurement of military equipment and weapons worth Rs 28,000 crore that included swarm drones, carbines and bulletproof jackets.
Eight personnel of the 21 Para Regiment, which had undertaken a daring operation just inside Myanmar territory following the Manipur ambush, were among 67 for whom President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday approved Gallantry awards.
The Indian Navy has stepped up its game with new surveillance and modernised equipment and ships that enables it to combat any challenge
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