The Karnataka headquarters of the Coast Guard conducted a maritime search and rescue workshop here on Thursday. Representatives from the Coastal Security Police, Customs, Immigration, Fisheries Department, Fisheries Association, and Red Cross Society took part.
Deputy Inspector-General and Commander, Indian Coast Guard, Karnataka, S.B. Venkatesh said that the global shipping industry is responsible for transporting 90% of world trade and hence the safety of vessels is critical.
The sea trade of the State constituted a significant part of its economic activities and secured for it a niche in the oceanic trade of the western coast of India from the earliest times. Literary and archaeological evidence indicate that the State’s sea trade extended up to Malaysia, Sumatra, Java, and Cambodia in the east and the Arab countries, Persia, and Egypt in the west. The entire search and rescue set-up in the Indian search and rescue region is controlled and co-ordinated by the Indian Coast Guard through maritime rescue co-ordinating centres in Mumbai, Chennai and Port Blair. The country has a robust maritime search and rescue system which is flourishing on equitable contributions of all the stakeholders. There is a lot to be done to ensure saving all lives in each maritime distress incident.
The Coast Guard conducts maritime exercise to find synergy amongst all participants in the field of life saving, a release said.
