 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Wednesday, Nov 19, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
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Tamil Nadu
Impressive: A line up of Coast Guard ships during an exercise on high seas off Bay of Bengal on Tuesday. ON BOARD THE ICGS VIVEK: It was the Coast Guard’s first ‘Day at Sea’ programme after the tsunami, showcasing its ability of tackling smuggling, pollution response and search and rescue and the Eastern Region exhibited its agility, flexibility and quick response capabilities. The ‘Day at Sea’ was organised to coincide with the farewell of its Director General Rusi Contractor, who landed on board the mobile Off Shore Patrol Vessel CGS Vivek on a single engine Chetak, CG 811. “This will be the last time I will be at sea. It is very sentimental for me,” said Vice Admiral Contractor, a Naval Officer who was at the helm of the Coast Guard for the past 27 months. Intercepting vesselThe first exercise involved boarding a suspect vessel in high seas. Coast Guard personnel from CGS Vivek launched a speed boat and sent personnel to inspect the “suspect” vessel even as medium machine gun wielding sailors kept watch from CGS Vivek. The boarding operation did not face any resistance. A few minutes later, the Commander of the operation, a young Deputy Commandant, reported back to the Admiral, saluted and reeled out in a high-pitched tone –to be heard above the engines and the sea: “Philippine registered trawler, Sir. Nothing on board except fishing equipment, Sir. All papers in order, Sir.” “Any fish,” the Admiral asked. “Negative Sir,” the officer replied. Pollution responseThe Coast Guard’s pollution response exercise was next in line. Advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel CGS Sarang, which was damaged in the Chennai Port after a merchant vessel was thrown in its direction by the tsunami waves, is one of the main pollution response vessels of the Coast Guard. The sailors on board demonstrated oil-spill containing operations and neutralising operations using chemicals (“We used water since it was only a demonstration,” one officer said). A Chetak joined the oil spill containment operations, this time carrying a yellow-coloured “PC 3” bucket, shaped like a huge orb with two protruding arms for spraying chemicals. Later, two Coast Guard helicopters carried out a synchronised search and rescue, after dropping of a sailor each and also demonstrated how mails and other minor equipment are transferred from one ship to another – the helicopter hovers over the ship and send the “mail” in a pouch down via a cable. Precision firing also formed part of the exercise. “It is a great occasion for us to showcase our strengths,” said the Coast Guard Eastern Region Commander S.P.S.Basra. The final item was the steam past, where in seven Coast Guard vessels –in assembly line formation –went past CGS Vivek, even as Admiral Contractor took the salute.
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