Western Naval Command conducts offshore exercise

Offshore security exercise, named 'Prasthan' was conducted in the Offshore Development Area (ODA) off Mumbai on Tuesday, under the aegis of Headquarters Western Naval Command. The exercise, which is conducted every six months, aims to integrate all maritime stakeholders including the Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, Coast Guard, ONGC, Port Trust, Customs, State fisheries department and Marine Police towards refining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for response to various contingencies that could occur in the ODAs.

The exercise was conducted on Heera platform of ONGC, located about 36 nautical miles west of Mumbai. Contingencies such as terrorist intrusion, bomb explosion, major fire, oil spill, casualty evacuation, cyclone warning, mass evacuation and abandon ship were exercised.

The exercise provided a realistic scenario for all stakeholders to assess readiness to respond to and combat contingencies and also to operate together in a coordinated manner. 

(With inputs from agencies.)