Indian Navy-Seychelles Coast Guard |12 April 2017

Surveillance, training exercises boost local officers’ skills

A two-week joint military training and surveillance exercises Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) officers  followed and took part in onboard Indian Navy vessel INS Shardul conducted in Seychelles EEZ have strengthened their capacity and boosted their experience and skills.

On Friday morning at the end of the March 31 - April 6 exercises and training, the Indian high commissioner to Seychelles Dr Ausaf Sayeed, the secretary of state in the Department of Foreign Affairs Ambassador Barry Faure among key officials from the SCG, the SPDF, SMSA among other guests attended a debriefing session onboard the INS Shardul hosted by its commanding officer Rohit Misra.

Indian Navy navigating officer Lt Cdr Augastin and Lieutenant Gerald Wong-Pool of the SCG enlightened everyone present on how the exercises and training went through a PowerPoint presentation.

“The exercises went well and we accosted and interrogated a number of foreign fishing vessels on their activities and businesses,” Lt Cdr Augastin said, adding that those vessels were all registered in Seychelles.

He said the SCG officers learned a lot from how all this is carried out.

Lieutenant Wong-Pool for his part noted that all the information and other data collected on these fishing vessels are fed back to the SCG information centre with which contact is maintained through a continuous exchange of information.

With regard to the training Lieutenant Wong-Pool said SCG officers have learned more on damage control onboard a vessel, interrogation and firefighting techniques, weapon training…

The deployment of INS Shardul has added yet another chapter to the strong defence and maritime cooperation between India and Seychelles.

The Indian Navy has been carrying out bi-annual deployment geared towards boosting surveillance of Seychelles EEZ for the past few years as part of defence cooperation agreement between the two countries.

During its period of deployment the INS Shardul carried out surveillance covering an area of approximately 40,000 sq nautical miles. Such surveillance gives a boost to curbing illegal fishing activities and thwarting the spread of smuggling, piracy and drug trafficking at sea.

During the vessel’s stay in Port Victoria, the Commanding Officer Misra held talks with Col. Simon Dine, Commander of the SCG.

Officers and crew members onboard the vessel also visited the SCG base and interacted with their  Seychellois counterparts.

The 5500-tonne vessel has been specifically designed to carry troop, equipment, armoured vehicles and is also capable of operating the versatile Sea King, Chetak and ALH helicopters as part of its role to conduct amphibious operations.