The Union Home Ministry, it is learnt, is contemplating a proposal from the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas to entrust the Coast Guard with the job of safeguarding the single point moorings (SPM) located in coastal seas along the country.
SPMs are buoys that act as mooring points and interconnect for extra large tanker vessels to load and offload oil or gas. Kerala’s only SPM is deployed some 10 nautical miles (19 km) off the Kochi coast and owned by the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited-Kochi.
Adequate security cover for the vital SPM has been a sore thumb for the coastal security stakeholders, more so in the wake of the special focus on vital installations along and close to the shore after 26/11.
While the State had initially declared the area around the buoy as a “no-fishing zone”, outlawing by order fishing activity within a radius of one km from it, there were reports of fishing boats dishonouring the statute. In the wake of frequent violation of the order, the State has lately made it a ‘prohibited zone’ invoking the provisions of the Official Secrets Act, thereby empowering the agencies to prosecute intentional violators.
“The seas within one km radius of the buoy have now been declared as a prohibited zone and there is round-the-clock patrol of the area by the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) on a speed boat hired by BPCL-Kochi. The system, though an interim measure, was brought into effect on specific instructions from the ministry,” said sources.
The CISF, which secures Cochin oil terminal besides the tanker berths against seaborne threats, had earlier been approached by the BPCL for providing security cover to the SPM, but the discussions never really crystallised into any concrete action plan after the CISF ostensibly demanded an annual fee of Rs. 30 crore to do the job. “The operational income through the SPM is only Rs. 20 crore annually. Does it then make financial sense to cough up nearly twice the sum to secure the installation?” asked a source privy to the discussions.
Meanwhile, defence sources said though the Home and Petroleum and Gas Ministries wanted the Coast Guard, responsible for security of territorial seas, to also provide security cover to all SPMs, the Coast Guard was not very keen to take on the responsibility.
Given the critical nature of the SPMs, some solution would have to be arrived at by the Home Ministry to permanently settle the issue, said a defence official.
Adequate security cover for the vital SPM has been a sore thumb for the coastal security stakeholders, more so in the wake of the special focus on vital installations along and close to the shore after 26/11.
