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| MV Seaman Guard Ohio (Wiki Info - Image: Wiki Commons) |
Monday, December 09, 2013 ‘MV Seaman Guard Ohio’ was interdicted and escorted by Indian Coast Guard to Tuticorin Port on 12th October, 2013 for investigation on the basis of intelligence inputs that the vessel was likely to be involved in illegal transactions of arms and ammunition. At Tuticorin, joint investigation was carried out on 12th & 13th October 2013 by all the concerned agencies. The Tamil Nadu Police has registered a case against the crew of guards of the detained ship “Seaman Guard Ohio” under various provisions of Arms Act, 1959, Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and Motor Spirit and High Speed Diesel Prevention of Malpractices in Supply and Distribution Order, 1990. The case is under investigation with Tamil Nadu Police.
Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard vessels and aircraft are deployed for surveillance (24x7) in the maritime zones of India to detect/deter anti national activities. Indian Coast Guard conducts community interaction programmes with the fishermen to sensitize them on prevailing security situations and develop them to be the “eyes and ears” for intelligence gathering. Static radars have been installed along the Indian Coast lines for electronic surveillance of vessel traffic. Coast Guard has been conducting regular exercises biannually on coastal security in co-ordination with other Central and State Government agencies i.e. Marine Police, Customs, CISF, Fisheries Department, Port Authorities, State Police and Indian Navy.
Strengthening of maritime security and coastal security is a multi-stakeholder activity and necessary measures are implemented by various agencies. To ensure coordination, regular meetings of the National Committee on Strengthening Maritime and Coastal Security (NCSMCS) are held in which all stakeholders participate.
This information was given by Defence Minister Shri AK Antony in a written reply to Shri S.S. Ramasubbu in Lok Sabha today.