New Coast Guard enclave at Nedumbassery to boost surveillance

KOCHI: The newly-inaugurated Indian Coast Guard Air Enclave (CGAE) at Nedumbassery will provide base to more aircraft and enhance Coast Guard’s surveillance of the coast.
Part of their expansion plan, the new enclave will have two hangers, one for Dorniers and another for the Chetaks. The facility will have the maintenance facility for the aircraft. Currently, the Coast Guard manages their aerial operations from INS Garuda.They are expected to start operations from Nedumbassery within the next two months.
The 10.02 acres adjacent to Cochin International Airport Ltd (Cial) was bought to set up the new enclave in 2007, will also house an administrative block, a housing facility and mess.
“With regards to operations, the tempo has always been optimal in this sensitive maritime state, which was evident in the search and rescue operations in the wake of cyclone Ockhi. Commencement of operations from CGAE in Nedumbassery will further boost our operational performance at sea,” said director general Indian Coast Guard (DGCG), Rajendra Singh in his inaugural speech. While speaking at the event, inspector general KR Nautiyal, Commander Coast Guard Region (West) spoke about the Coast Guard’s involvement in providing assistance to the Maersk Honam merchant vessel that witnessed a blast on Tuesday.
“It is because of the expansion on our infrastructure and the induction of the state of the art vessels, we were able to meet the challenges of the fire onboard the merchant vessel which is almost 340m long, having 7, 840 containers onboard, which was fire in the middle of the ocean almost 1, 200km from here,” said Nautiyal.
Admitting that few years back, they would have had to think twice before sending their vessel out, today because of advanced technology, increased assets and modernization, Nautiyal said that they were able to reach the vessel first and also meet the requirements of the ship, which was sure to sink after being engulfed in fire.
“Once fully activated, the CGAE, Kochi, would commence Air Operations on the Western Seaboard of India, extending from the coastal states of Goa to Kerala and Lakshadweep Islands as well as in the Exclusive Economic Zones of friendly neighbouring nations,” said a defence spokesperson.
The Indian Navy had also set up a Naval Air Enclave at Nedumbassery to operate aircraft which cannot be operated from INS Garuda due to inadequate runway length.