Indian Coast Guard SAREX-2026 Exercise and NMSAR Board Meeting
Raksha Rajya Mantri Shri Sanjay Seth will inaugurate the 12th National Maritime Search & Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2026) on October 7, 2026, and witness the SAR demonstration off the Paradip coast on October 8, 2026. The exercise features significant international participation with 32 observers from 30 countries, highlighting the cooperative protocols, strategic importance, and global interoperability of the drill.
SAREX-2026 represents one of the largest and most complex search and rescue exercises ever conducted in the region, deploying substantial assets including 15 Coast Guard ships, two Dornier aircraft, three Advanced Light Helicopters, one Chetak helicopter, IAF C-130J and Mi-17 aircraft, two Indian Navy ships, along with civil/state assets and shore-based support units.
The exercise scenario simulates a Mass Rescue Operation involving concurrent aeronautical and maritime distress situations, specifically including the ditching of a passenger aircraft at sea with 228 persons onboard and its subsequent impact with container vessel MV Zumba.
Concurrently, the Indian Coast Guard will convene the 24th National Maritime Search & Rescue (NMSAR) Board Meeting at Bhubaneswar under the chairmanship of Director General Paramesh Sivamani. The meeting deliberations will focus on strengthening national SAR preparedness, enhancing distress-alert management systems, and ensuring faster mobilization of rescue assets through technology integration and seamless inter-agency coordination.
These initiatives demonstrate India's commitment to building a faster, technology-enabled, and internationally connected search and rescue framework, aligned with the vision of SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the spirit of MAHASAGAR.