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The Indian Coast Guard - A brief history and its fleet INDIAN COAST GUARD



"Vayam Rakshamah - We Protect"

The Indian Coast Guard is India's youngest and smallest Armed Force. Unlike the BSF or CISF it is not a Police Force but a part of our Armed Services. Unknown to most it is the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world after the US, Japanese & Chinese Coast Guard Arms.



ICG or just CG - Indian Coast Guard; ICGS - Indian Coast Guard Ship, the prefix used with the ships name; OPV - Offshore Patrol Vessel; EEZ - Exclusive economic Zone



Why a Coast Guard?

In 1973 international rounds of negotiations commenced under the aegis of the third UNCLOS {United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea}. Here the philosophy on the table was for each maritime nation to have an Exclusive Economic Zone stretching out to 200 nautical miles from the coastline. This was to be exclusively for the economic exploitation by that country - fishery, seabed minerals and natural resources. Other countries' ships continued to enjoy freedom of navigation through this zone but economic exploitation became exclusive.



India was one of the nations that took an active lead in helping frame these laws and spoke up for protecting the interests of the third world nations most of which had gained independence only recently and all of whom lacked the resources to ward off economic exploitation by the first world. The policy became final in 1982 and was fully adopted only in 1994 after 60 countries in all signed it. Today 168 countries are signatories. Of the major nations with a seaboard only USA, Turkey, Peru and Venezuela are yet to sign. Why USA has not signed up is another story of how if you are the world's largest economy you can look the other way. Question is for how long.



The Beginning

In anticipation of the coming of the 200 nautical mile EEZ India set up the Indian Coast Guard in 1977.



Source$$



The nucleus team of 10 men who set up the Indian Coast Guard on 1st February 1977. They were led by Vice Admiral V.A. Kamath of the Indian Navy, seated in the centre. Kamath was the Vice Chief of the Navy and went on to set up the Coast Guard. This is a truly historic photo pinpointing the time and the team that created an Armed Force.



Source $$

The Coast Guard had modest beginnings with two small naval frigates INS Khuthar and INS Kirpan and five small coastal patrol boats were transferred from the Indian Navy along with officers and sailors to form the nucleus of this new force. This motley collection was an interim measure while new build ships came into service and the initial teams got trained.



Exclusive Economic Zone

Source: Slideshare.net

The EEZ extends to ~370 kms from the coast. Our EEZ measures 2.01 million sq kms or about 60% of our landmass. The coast line is a little over 7500 kms in length including 599 islands. With our maritime neighbours we have an overlap of EEZs and have through negotiations demarcated the sea border as the half way point. That is why you see the straight lines.



Source: Economist

As the diagramme depicts a country's territorial waters extend to 12 nm {~22 kms}. A further 22 kms don't belong to its territory but it can enforce its laws or be in hot pursuit of an offender. And a total of 370 kms from the coastline is your EEZ.



The Coast Guard's Many Roles

The role of the Indian Coast Guard combines a sensitive mix of being part police, part customs enforcement, part protection of economic assets, part military, part ecological warrior and part rescue and relief. The need to constantly interface with the Police, Customs, Civil Administration make it different from the Indian Navy which is more focused on defence in depth, military power projection and offense where needed. The multiplicity and sheer complexity of roles a large Coast Guard like ours has to perform is not fully understood by the average bureaucrat or citizen.



The roles are wide ranging - protecting off shore oil wells, enforcing our fishery rights, monitoring maritime pollution and cleaning up oil spills, search & rescue, protecting marine life and supporting scientific expeditions, anti-smuggling operations, anti-piracy operations and maintaining a visible presence at sea over our EEZ.





Source: mangaloretoday.com

Source:martime-executive.com





Fire fighting at sea. Given the constant and powerful movements of the sea one big risk is the fire fighter ship colliding with the ship on fire! Significant navigation skills are needed by the ICG vessel to stay close enough and yet far enough from the ship on fire.





Source:news18.com



Rescue at sea. This was a case of the Indian CG rescuing Pakistani naval personnel when their patrol boat sunk at sea and the Pakistani Navy radioed for assistance. 2 were rescued and 4 others drowned before the ICG could locate them. At sea every one helps the other.



Source $$

Search & Arrest operations against smugglers and drug runners. Around two or sometimes three major seizures occur each month within India's territorial waters {12 nautical miles ~22kms}. Contraband seized runs up to well over Rs 1500 crores over the years. The boat being arrested here was found carrying narcotics from Myanmar.



Source $$

Anti-piracy operations. This was the first successful armed piracy operation in Indian waters thwarted in 100 years. India's Eastern waters are still amongst the most vulnerable to pirates.



Source $$

Protecting deep sea oil rigs at sea. India is now one of the largest users of off-shore oil rigs. At any point in time 40 to 50 could be in operation within the waters of the Indian EEZ. Each of these, especially those in waters closer to Pakistan, has to be protected from terrorist trouble.



Source $$

Pollution control chemical spraying to coagulate oil spills which are then sucked into bunkers on board CG ships. If you sail at sea you'll be surprised how often you come across small pools of oil floating on the sea - each a pollution hazard.



Source $$

Protecting exotic marine life - Olive Riddley Turtles' nesting sites on the East Coast. the Coast Guard works directly with local Govt. authorities to preserve and protect endangered marine life





The Ships of the Coast Guard



In this section I have included only one or two examples of each of the 4 categories of ships in the ICG and not covered each of the 21 classes of ships that proudly fly the ensign of the Indian Coast Guard. An ensign is the flag of the Indian Coast Guard.



Source: Wikipedia

Ensign of the Indian Coast Guard



Source: Wikipedia

Racing Stripes painted on the hull of all ICG vessels and fuselage of all aircraft & helicopters





Pollution Sweeper





Source:maritime-executive.com

The ICG has three of this versatile class of ships. Designed by Rolls Royce and constructed by ABG Ship Builders it has a dynamic positioning system that enables it to stay at the same position despite the movements of the sea. This feature is much needed to stay next to the oil spill while sponging it up.





OPV



Offshore Patrol Vessels are the largest of the three basic types of vessels operated by the ICG. As goes the name these vessels sail out to patrol the maritime border of the EEZ and deter unwanted intruders - foreign trawlers, foreign sea bed mining ships, drug smuggling boats etc. They also provide long range deep sea capability for fire fighting, rescue, pollution control and increasingly these days anti-piracy operations. In order to operate in blue waters in all weathers these are typically in the 1800 to 2500 tonne bracket. India has been design its own OPVs from the very start in the early 1980s and making incremental improvements in each class. For our waters we find vessels in the 2200 to 2400 tonne range best suited.



India has 19 OPVs in service and another 2 under construction.





Source: lntshipbuilding.com





Patrol Boats



These are much smaller than an OPV and are typically deployed for coastal patrol and policing. They also serve as 'maids of all work' especially in the first 100 nautical miles (185 kms) from shore. Featuring a shallow draft they are able to sail close to the coast and up estuaries which the larger ships cannot always do. All 43 Large Patrol Boats currently in service across 7 classes have been designed and built in India. The ICG sensibly took in foreign design support from Australia, Japan and South Korea and kept stitching in incremental improvements from the first 200-tonne 'Rajhans' class to the latest 300-tonne 'Aadesh' class.



Source:worldmaritimenews.com





Interceptors/ Coastal Boats/Inshore Patrol Boats



These are the third type of basic vessel that make up the ICG fleet - Interceptor Boats for short range rapid reaction. Also called Inshore Patrol Boats by the ICG. We have 68 in service. Their typical performance is a top speed of 45 knots and a patrol endurance of 24 to 48 hours. 45 knots for a boat is like 400 kmph for a car! The only way such speeds can be achieved in water is by lifting the forward hull up out of the water thus cutting down drag. Though small their navigation & surveillance suites are similar to larger ships and appropriate for night operations in closed waters. the water jets that power them help reduce the draft and thus confer the ability to sail into shallow waters.



Source: lntshipbuilding.com

Source: Wikipedia





Hovercraft



Hovercraft are ideal vessels to take you through surfaces that are too thin to drive over and too thick to sail through. They are ideal for operating in the interface points of sea and land and do not need a port or harbour with depth. For close shore waters, inland waters, estuarine waters hovercraft are the right amphibians. The ICG operates 18 Griffon TD8000 medium sized hovercraft that have served the Force well for almost 2 decades.





Source Deccan Herald





CRN-91



Source:Wikipedia

No essay on the ICG can be complete without touching upon its principal weapon the CRN-91 30mm automatic cannon. Designed by DRDO and derived from the highly successful Russian 30mm army cannon this weapon can fire up to 550 rounds per minute out to an effective range of 4000 metres. It is directed by an optronic fire control system for day and night use. It is a simple easily maintained weapon effective for policing duties.



RHIB



Source: Wikipedia

Rigid Hull Inflated Buoyancy boat - a most useful piece of equipment that allows the main CG ship to extend its strong arms around both trouble makers and folks in trouble at sea. These are boats, as the photo shows that are made typically of GRP, Aluminium or a mix of wood and carbon fibre with a large inflated balloon all around the top side hull edge. Net net this design prevents the boat from sinking or capsizing permanently as the inflated balloon acts as a life jacket. Typically fitted with powerful motors and one or more machine guns it becomes an extension of the ship. Most OPVs would typically carry two 9-metre RHIBs. Large patrol boats would carry one 5-metre RHIB.





Aircraft of the Coast Guard



Patrol from the air augments and compliments patrol by ship. While an aircraft cannot arrest, search a ship, seize contrabands it can survey vast areas of ocean in a relatively short period of time to find out where potential for trouble or need for help lies. The mere presence of an air patrol is often a deterrent for trouble makers. It is a cost effective method, in both time and money, to sniff out and then direct the ships to the point of action.



Fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft are used by the ICG for patrol & policing, armed deterrence, rescue, transporting relief materials & cleaning up oil spills.



Dornier Do228



Source: JetPhotos

Dornier Do 228 the reliable work horse of the ICG. 23 of these hard working patrol aircraft are operated by the ICG. They are fitted with a maritime surface surveillance radar and devices to detect oil pools (which by the way are very common today) floating on the sea. They can be equipped with oil pollution controlling chemical sprays, 7.62mm light machine gun pods and dinghies for dropping at sea.



HAL Dhruv



Source Wikipedia

The HAL Dhruv is an indigenous design. Twin engine with a useful payload of 1500kgs/14 passengers or 11 fully equipped troops. Lavishly fitted with modern avionics for search, identification and tracking. 16 more are on order.



HAL Chetak



Source: JetPhotos

India's most loved choppers, the sisters - Chetak and Cheetah. Produced by HAL since 1969. 17 on strength.





Over the period 1978 to 2015 the Indian Coast Guard among many other contributions had clocked in the following:-



Lives saved : 6827



Medical Evacuations : 212



Major Disaster Relief Operations : 32



Anti-Narcotics & Smuggling, number of vessels arrested & seized : 798



Vessels apprehended for harming or smuggling marine wild life : 259



Since then these figures have been exceeded handsomely.





Jai Hind.







Sources :

Indian Coast Guard, 25 Glorious Years. Published by the Indian Coast Guard HQ, New Delhi $$

CG Information brochure 2015 The Indian Coast Guard is India's youngest and smallest Armed Force. Unlike the BSF or CISF it is not a Police Force but a part of our Armed Services. Unknown to most it is the fourth largest Coast Guard in the world after the US, Japanese & Chinese Coast Guard Arms.In 1973 international rounds of negotiations commenced under the aegis of the third UNCLOS {United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea}. Here the philosophy on the table was for each maritime nation to have an Exclusive Economic Zone stretching out to 200 nautical miles from the coastline. This was to be exclusively for the economic exploitation by that country - fishery, seabed minerals and natural resources. Other countries' ships continued to enjoy freedom of navigation through this zone but economic exploitation became exclusive.India was one of the nations that took an active lead in helping frame these laws and spoke up for protecting the interests of the third world nations most of which had gained independence only recently and all of whom lacked the resources to ward off economic exploitation by the first world. The policy became final in 1982 and was fully adopted only in 1994 after 60 countries in all signed it. Today 168 countries are signatories. Of the major nations with a seaboard only USA, Turkey, Peru and Venezuela are yet to sign. Why USA has not signed up is another story of how if you are the world's largest economy you can look the other way. Question is for how long.In anticipation of the coming of the 200 nautical mile EEZ India set up the Indian Coast Guard in 1977.The nucleus team of 10 men who set up the Indian Coast Guard on 1st February 1977. They were led by Vice Admiral V.A. Kamath of the Indian Navy, seated in the centre. Kamath was the Vice Chief of the Navy and went on to set up the Coast Guard. This is a truly historic photo pinpointing the time and the team that created an Armed Force.The Coast Guard had modest beginnings with two small naval frigates INS Khuthar and INS Kirpan and five small coastal patrol boats were transferred from the Indian Navy along with officers and sailors to form the nucleus of this new force. This motley collection was an interim measure while new build ships came into service and the initial teams got trained.The EEZ extends to ~370 kms from the coast. Our EEZ measures 2.01 million sq kms or about 60% of our landmass. The coast line is a little over 7500 kms in length including 599 islands. With our maritime neighbours we have an overlap of EEZs and have through negotiations demarcated the sea border as the half way point. That is why you see the straight lines.As the diagramme depicts a country's territorial waters extend to 12 nm {~22 kms}. A further 22 kms don't belong to its territory but it can enforce its laws or be in hot pursuit of an offender. And a total of 370 kms from the coastline is your EEZ.The role of the Indian Coast Guard combines a sensitive mix of being part police, part customs enforcement, part protection of economic assets, part military, part ecological warrior and part rescue and relief. The need to constantly interface with the Police, Customs, Civil Administration make it different from the Indian Navy which is more focused on defence in depth, military power projection and offense where needed. The multiplicity and sheer complexity of roles a large Coast Guard like ours has to perform is not fully understood by the average bureaucrat or citizen.The roles are wide ranging - protecting off shore oil wells, enforcing our fishery rights, monitoring maritime pollution and cleaning up oil spills, search & rescue, protecting marine life and supporting scientific expeditions, anti-smuggling operations, anti-piracy operations and maintaining a visible presence at sea over our EEZ.Fire fighting at sea. Given the constant and powerful movements of the sea one big risk is the fire fighter ship colliding with the ship on fire! Significant navigation skills are needed by the ICG vessel to stay close enough and yet far enough from the ship on fire.Rescue at sea. This was a case of the Indian CG rescuing Pakistani naval personnel when their patrol boat sunk at sea and the Pakistani Navy radioed for assistance. 2 were rescued and 4 others drowned before the ICG could locate them. At sea every one helps the other.Search & Arrest operations against smugglers and drug runners. Around two or sometimes three major seizures occurmonth within India's territorial waters {12 nautical miles ~22kms}. Contraband seized runs up to well over Rs 1500 crores over the years. The boat being arrested here was found carrying narcotics from Myanmar.Anti-piracy operations. This was the first successful armed piracy operation in Indian waters thwarted in 100 years. India's Eastern waters are still amongst the most vulnerable to pirates.Protecting deep sea oil rigs at sea. India is now one of the largest users of off-shore oil rigs. At any point in time 40 to 50 could be in operation within the waters of the Indian EEZ. Each of these, especially those in waters closer to Pakistan, has to be protected from terrorist trouble.Pollution control chemical spraying to coagulate oil spills which are then sucked into bunkers on board CG ships. If you sail at sea you'll be surprised how often you come across small pools of oil floating on the sea - each a pollution hazard.Protecting exotic marine life - Olive Riddley Turtles' nesting sites on the East Coast. the Coast Guard works directly with local Govt. authorities to preserve and protect endangered marine lifeIn this section I have included only one or two examples of each of the 4 categories of ships in the ICG and not covered each of the 21 classes of ships that proudly fly the ensign of the Indian Coast Guard. An ensign is the flag of the Indian Coast Guard.Ensign of the Indian Coast GuardRacing Stripes painted on the hull of all ICG vessels and fuselage of all aircraft & helicoptersThe ICG has three of this versatile class of ships. Designed by Rolls Royce and constructed by ABG Ship Builders it has a dynamic positioning system that enables it to stay at the same position despite the movements of the sea. This feature is much needed to stay next to the oil spill while sponging it up.Offshore Patrol Vessels are the largest of the three basic types of vessels operated by the ICG. As goes the name these vessels sail out to patrol the maritime border of the EEZ and deter unwanted intruders - foreign trawlers, foreign sea bed mining ships, drug smuggling boats etc. They also provide long range deep sea capability for fire fighting, rescue, pollution control and increasingly these days anti-piracy operations. In order to operate in blue waters in all weathers these are typically in the 1800 to 2500 tonne bracket. India has been design its own OPVs from the very start in the early 1980s and making incremental improvements in each class. For our waters we find vessels in the 2200 to 2400 tonne range best suited.India has 19 OPVs in service and another 2 under construction.These are much smaller than an OPV and are typically deployed for coastal patrol and policing. They also serve as 'maids of all work' especially in the first 100 nautical miles (185 kms) from shore. Featuring a shallow draft they are able to sail close to the coast and up estuaries which the larger ships cannot always do. All 43 Large Patrol Boats currently in service across 7 classes have been designed and built in India. The ICG sensibly took in foreign design support from Australia, Japan and South Korea and kept stitching in incremental improvements from the first 200-tonne 'Rajhans' class to the latest 300-tonne 'Aadesh' class.These are the third type of basic vessel that make up the ICG fleet - Interceptor Boats for short range rapid reaction. Also called Inshore Patrol Boats by the ICG. We have 68 in service. Their typical performance is a top speed of 45 knots and a patrol endurance of 24 to 48 hours. 45 knots for a boat is like 400 kmph for a car! The only way such speeds can be achieved in water is by lifting the forward hull up out of the water thus cutting down drag. Though small their navigation & surveillance suites are similar to larger ships and appropriate for night operations in closed waters. the water jets that power them help reduce the draft and thus confer the ability to sail into shallow waters.Hovercraft are ideal vessels to take you through surfaces that are too thin to drive over and too thick to sail through. They are ideal for operating in the interface points of sea and land and do not need a port or harbour with depth. For close shore waters, inland waters, estuarine waters hovercraft are the right amphibians. The ICG operates 18 Griffon TD8000 medium sized hovercraft that have served the Force well for almost 2 decades.No essay on the ICG can be complete without touching upon its principal weapon the CRN-91 30mm automatic cannon. Designed by DRDO and derived from the highly successful Russian 30mm army cannon this weapon can fire up to 550 rounds per minute out to an effective range of 4000 metres. It is directed by an optronic fire control system for day and night use. It is a simple easily maintained weapon effective for policing duties.Rigid Hull Inflated Buoyancy boat - a most useful piece of equipment that allows the main CG ship to extend its strong arms around both trouble makers and folks in trouble at sea. These are boats, as the photo shows that are made typically of GRP, Aluminium or a mix of wood and carbon fibre with a large inflated balloon all around the top side hull edge. Net net this design prevents the boat from sinking or capsizing permanently as the inflated balloon acts as a life jacket. Typically fitted with powerful motors and one or more machine guns it becomes an extension of the ship. Most OPVs would typically carry two 9-metre RHIBs. Large patrol boats would carry one 5-metre RHIB.Patrol from the air augments and compliments patrol by ship. While an aircraft cannot arrest, search a ship, seize contrabands it can survey vast areas of ocean in a relatively short period of time to find out where potential for trouble or need for help lies. The mere presence of an air patrol is often a deterrent for trouble makers. It is a cost effective method, in both time and money, to sniff out and then direct the ships to the point of action.Fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft are used by the ICG for patrol & policing, armed deterrence, rescue, transporting relief materials & cleaning up oil spills.Dornier Do 228 the reliable work horse of the ICG. 23 of these hard working patrol aircraft are operated by the ICG. They are fitted with a maritime surface surveillance radar and devices to detect oil pools (which by the way are very common today) floating on the sea. They can be equipped with oil pollution controlling chemical sprays, 7.62mm light machine gun pods and dinghies for dropping at sea.The HAL Dhruv is an indigenous design. Twin engine with a useful payload of 1500kgs/14 passengers or 11 fully equipped troops. Lavishly fitted with modern avionics for search, identification and tracking. 16 more are on order.India's most loved choppers, the sisters - Chetak and Cheetah. Produced by HAL since 1969. 17 on strength.Over the period 1978 to 2015 the Indian Coast Guard among many other contributions had clocked in the following:-Lives saved : 6827Medical Evacuations : 212Major Disaster Relief Operations : 32Anti-Narcotics & Smuggling, number of vessels arrested & seized : 798Vessels apprehended for harming or smuggling marine wild life : 259Since then these figures have been exceeded handsomely.Jai Hind.Indian Coast Guard, 25 Glorious Years. Published by the Indian Coast Guard HQ, New Delhi $$CG Information brochure 2015 Last edited by V.Narayan : 10th November 2019 at 21:50 . Reason: Lagging Picture 23.jpg inserted in-line with fire fighting section.