Latest news with #IndianCoastGuard
Hans India
a day ago
- Business
- Hans India
ICG gets new pollution control vessel to protect marine ecosystems
Defence public sector unit Goa Shipyard Limited on Wednesday launched its second indigenously designed Pollution Control Vessel (PCV), Samudra Prachet, for the Indian Coast Guard (ICG), an official said. The vessel has two side arms capable of collecting oil spills while underway and a radar to detect oil slicks, the GSL official said. Director General of Indian Coast Guard Parmesh Sivamani, who was present during the launch at Vasco in South Goa, stressed the strategic importance of the vessel in strengthening India's capacity for coastal environmental protection and pollution response operations, the official said. Sivamani said the vessel will play a pivotal role in safeguarding marine ecosystems. sThe indigenously designed Samudra Prachet (Yard 1268) is the second in a series of two PCVs. The first one, Samudra Pratap (Yard 1267), was launched on August 29 last year. GSL Chairman and Managing Director Brajesh Kumar Upadhyay also attended the event. He underscored the critical importance of this platform in advancing India's maritime environmental preparedness. Upadhyay also said that the vessel has 72 per cent indigenous content, which he called a significant contribution to the vision of Atmanirbhar Bharat. A senior GSL official said the vessel is 114.5 metres long and 16.5 metres wide, with a displacement of 4170 tonnes. It will be manned by 14 officers and 115 sailors, he said. The official said that the vessel is equipped with two side-sweeping arms capable of collecting oil spills while underway, as well as a modern radar system for detecting oil slicks. He said the PCV is engineered to recover oil across the 'full viscosity spectrum, pump in contaminated water, analyse and separate pollutants and store recovered oil in dedicated onboard tanks'.
Time of India
2 days ago
- General
- Time of India
As maritime accidents increase, Coast Guard poised to get 2 new pollution-control vessels
Panaji: Amid a rise in maritime accidents in Indian waters, the Indian Coast Guard is set to get two additional vessels to combat onboard fires and oil spills. Goa Shipyard Limited launched a 114-metre-long pollution-control vessel, Samudra Prachet, for the Coast Guard on Wednesday, at its shipyard at Vasco. The indigenously designed pollution-control vessel is the second of the two that the Coast Guard ordered from the defence public sector undertaking. Samudra Prachet follows Samudra Pratap, which was launched in Aug last year, and GSL will deliver the two ships to the Coast Guard in the coming quarters. Director general of the Coast Guard, Paramesh Sivamani, emphasised the strategic importance of advanced pollution-control vessels in strengthening India's capacity to protect the coastal environment and respond to pollution emergencies. Sivamani said that pollution-control vessels play a 'pivotal role' in safeguarding India's marine ecosystems. Incidents in the maritime sector involving Indian seafarers and foreign vessels in Indian waters rose by 21% in 2024 to 186, said India's shipping regulator, directorate general of shipping, in its Maritime Safety Investigation Report 2024. An upward trend was observed in total collision incidents, rising from five in 2023 to 10 in 2024. The recent fire onboard MV Wan Hai 503, which started with explosions when the ship was some 44 nautical miles off Kerala on June 9, illustrates the potential danger aboard cargo ships. GSL chairman and MD, Brajesh Kumar Upadhyay, said that 72% of the machinery and raw material used to build the two pollution-control vessels is indigenous. The 4,170-tonne vessel will be operated by 14 officers and 115 sailors. It is equipped with two side-sweeping arms capable of collecting oil spills while under way, as well as a modern radar system for detecting oil slicks. The vessel is engineered to recover oil, pump in contaminated water, analyse and separate pollutants, and store recovered oil in dedicated onboard tanks. A day earlier, Sivamani's wife, Priya, inaugurated the Coast Guard Kindergarten School at Chicolna, Vasco. The school will also cater to locals.
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
India, South Korea hold 13th high-level Coast Guard meeting in Delhi
The 13th high-level meeting between the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) and the Korea Coast Guard took place in New Delhi on Monday (July 21, 2025). The meeting was led by S. Paramesh, Director General, ICG, and Kim Yong Jin, Commissioner General of the Korea Coast Guard, on an official visit to India from July 20-24 as the head of a five-member delegation. During the meeting, discussions were held on strengthening operational cooperation in key areas, including maritime search and rescue, pollution response, and maritime law enforcement. Both sides reiterated the importance of sharing best practices, enhancing interoperability, and sustaining regular personnel exchanges under the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the two agencies in 2006. The KCG delegation will also travel to Mumbai from July 23-24, where they are scheduled to undertake an industrial visit to Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited, and ICG patrol vessels, further reinforcing maritime, industrial, and operational linkages. The meeting provided fresh momentum to the enduring and professional relationship between the two Coast Guards, and reaffirmed their joint commitment to promoting maritime safety, security, and environmental protection in the region, the ICG said. Earlier in the day, the Korea Coast Guard Commissioner called on Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh. The meeting included a discussion on enhancing India-South Korea Coast Guard cooperation, with a focus on search and rescue, and maritime pollution response, the Union Ministry of Defence posted on social media platform X.
Nikkei Asia
5 days ago
- Politics
- Nikkei Asia
Isolated Sentinel tribe in focus as India readies census
A Sentinel tribesman aims his bow at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter as it flies over North Sentinel Island in December 2004. © Reuters KIRAN SHARMA NEW DELHI -- As India gears up for its next census after a delay of six years, the government faces a difficult task trying to account for the small Sentinelese tribal population on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The indigenous people, called the world's most isolated, fiercely resist all contact with outsiders. The nationwide, once-a-decade census was slated for 2021 but postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak. The count will start for most parts of India in March 2027, while for a few states and territories in the country's north, it will begin early in October next year. Besides recording population data, the exercise includes caste details on all Indians for the first time since the South Asian nation's independence from British rule in 1947.
The Hindu
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Arrest of Indian fishermen lays bare uneasy Delhi-Dhaka ties
For the second time in the past one year, Bangladesh has detained Indian fishermen, official sources said on Saturday (July 19, 2025). The development is being viewed by policymakers as a growing 'absence of understanding' between the two sides against the backdrop of a seemingly uneasy relationship between Dhaka and New Delhi. The latest incident took place during the intervening night of July 14 and 15 when 34 Indian fishermen in two trawlers — FB Jhor and FB Ma Mangal Chandi — were apprehended by Bangladesh authorities near the Mongla port. 'As soon as information about the incident was received, our High Commission in Bangladesh took up the matter with Bangladeshi authorities through diplomatic channels seeking immediate consular access. We are constantly pursuing the matter for facilitating the safe and early return of all the fishermen along with their boats,' said an official dealing with the matter. On October 8, 2009, Bangladesh initiated an arbitration to settle the maritime boundary dispute with India, and, in 2014, a settlement was reached through the Permanent Court of Arbitration. But though the maritime boundary was decided, lack of visible markers meant fishermen often strayed across the agreed line in the Bay of Bengal. India and Bangladesh arrested 185 fishermen in the winter of 2024 as bilateral ties plummeted following the overthrow of the Sheikh Hasina government on August 5, 2024. On January 5 this year, these individuals were exchanged when 95 Indian fishermen were handed over by Bangladesh authorities to the Indian Coast Guard. In response, India returned 90 Bangladeshi fishermen on the same day. As a matter of convention, both sides had an understanding that fishermen would have to be protected as they had no means to detect the invisible maritime boundary. Such fishermen who crossed the boundary after the settlement of 2014 would often get detained but as part of an 'unwritten understanding' supported by political leaders on both sides, these individuals would be quickly released as prolonged detention hurts economic prospects of fishermen in this region. However, the incidents of apprehension of fishermen are being interpreted by policymakers as a sign that the earlier 'unwritten understanding' regarding fishermen is no longer being respected. The Hindu was told that Bangladesh is applying the law in a 'stricter' manner which is leading to largescale and prolonged detention of Indian fishermen.
