The Indian Coast Guard and Japan Coast Guard held a joint exercise off the coast of Chennai, as part of the five-day drill between both nations.
The exercise was conducted in line with the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) between both nations, signed in 2006, wherein both countries had agreed to promote interaction between both Coast Guards, including visits, annual joint exercises, training exchanges, workshops and seminars.
The five-day exercise began on January 8, with a focus on pollution response training on hazardous and narcotics substances to combat maritime pollution. The interaction and training also covered responding in real-time, to aspects of chemical pollution at sea, with a particular focus on hazardous chemical substances, and safety measures, including hands-on practical training on the response equipment.
It was conducted off Chennai and joint response action against a situation of collusion between two vessels, leading to an oil spill from a tanker at sea. And responding to the threat from piracy was also taken up during the drill.
This is the 20th such exercise being conducted between the two Coast Guards since its institution in the year 2000. This was coordinated by Headquarters, Coast Guard Region (East) headed by Inspector General Donny Michael, TM.
In continuance of this ongoing cooperation, the Japan Coast Guard Ship ‘Yashima’ arrived in Chennai on 10 Jan 24 on a four–day goodwill visit. The ship participated in the Annual Joint Exercise on 12 Jan 24 in which nine ships and six aircraft of the Indian Coast Guard also participated.