On 17 Feb 25, Inspector General Bhisham Sharma, PTM, TM, Commander, Coast Guard Region (West) inaugurated a week-long International course on ‘MRCC OPS & SAR’ for trainees from Friendly Foreign Countries (FFC). The Regional Commander welcomed the foreign participants and emphasised upon the importance of Search and Rescue (SAR) coordination training. Regional Commander also highlighted the need for enhanced collaborative and continued synergy towards fostering the linkages amongst various FFCs and for the common and global humanitarian cause for the mariners safety at sea. The flag officer encouraged the foreign participants to make the most of this opportunity so as to ensure the knowledge and skills honed are prudent enough to be utilised in the need of the hour.
The course is conducted annually by Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, Mumbai of the Coast Guard Regional HQs (West) under the aegis of Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC), MEA, GoI. The course curriculum covers Maritime Search and Rescue (M-SAR) planning and coordination, computation of datum, search plan development, satellite-aided operations and case studies.
Since conceptualisation of this course in 2021, with only 15 participants from 04 countries, the year 2025 witnessed an exhilarating and all time high participation of 22 participants from 06 different countries including Bangladesh, Maldives, Mayanmar, Oman, Seychelles and Sri Lanka. Apart from the ICG faculty, specialists from stake holders of INMCC, ISRO, AAI and INCOIS will form a part of the faculty during this intensive training programme.
Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), Mumbai operates 24x7, 365 days a year towards ensuring seamless coordination of SAR on the Western Search & Rescue Region of the nation. In the year gone by, more than 2100 alerts were received and all were responded well towards the Safety of Life at Sea. In the past few months, the SAR operations were coordinated beyond the Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) also. In two such operations, a total of 21 Indian fishermen were saved, when their boats sank in the Pakistan waters and subsequently ICG ships were diverted for the SAR operations.
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