Why in news?
The Indian Navy is coordinating Sea Vigil-26, a nationwide coastal-defence exercise running from 11 to 19 November 2026. Its fifth edition brings together maritime agencies, coastal governments, fishing communities and other coastal stakeholders. The exercise examines how India's coastal-security arrangements work across the entire coastline and Exclusive Economic Zone. A readiness-evaluation phase runs from 11 to 17 November, followed by a sea phase on 18–19 November. Testing these arrangements together helps agencies assess preparedness across responsibilities that extend from shore facilities to activity at sea.
Why coastal security involves several agencies
A coast connects settlements, fishing grounds, ports and sea routes. Security arrangements must therefore connect people and institutions working in different places. A suspicious movement observed near a landing point may require information to reach the agency able to investigate it. This makes communication and coordination part of preparedness.
India's system brings together the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and coastal police, alongside other central and state agencies. The Navy has overall responsibility for maritime security, including coastal and offshore security. The Coast Guard has responsibility for coastal security in territorial waters and coordinates central and state agencies on coastal-security matters.
Coastal police provide a state-level component of this arrangement. Sea Vigil-26 also involves Customs and other maritime agencies. Their participation reflects the different responsibilities associated with people, vessels, cargo and coastal infrastructure. Fishing and coastal communities participate because they are part of the everyday maritime environment.
The background to Sea Vigil
The Navy conceptualised Sea Vigil in 2018 to test security measures introduced after the November 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. Those attacks exposed the need to strengthen coastal security. The exercise provides a nationwide setting in which participating organisations can examine how their arrangements connect.
A coordinated exercise brings the participating agencies into a common assessment. Each organisation has its own duties, assets and procedures. Testing their interaction helps assess the wider system through which information and operational responses move between them.
The two phases in 2026
The first phase is the Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation. It runs for seven days, from 11 to 17 November. This is followed by the sea phase on 18 and 19 November. The schedule combines a readiness assessment with activity at sea within the same national exercise.
The Ministry of Defence announcement identifies participation by the Navy, Coast Guard, coastal-security police, Customs and other maritime agencies. Several Union ministries also facilitate the exercise. These include Home Affairs; Ports, Shipping and Waterways; Petroleum and Natural Gas; and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying.
The coast and the Exclusive Economic Zone
The Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is a maritime zone in which a coastal country has rights over natural resources. These include resources in the water, seabed and subsoil, as well as certain economic uses of the sea. The EEZ can extend up to 200 nautical miles from the baseline used to measure maritime zones.
The baseline is the reference line along the coast from which those distances are measured. The EEZ's outer limit is therefore measured from that line. Its resource rights concern activities such as fishing, offshore energy and seabed-resource use. This helps explain why maritime security extends beyond settlements immediately beside the shore.
Sea Vigil-26 covers the entire Indian coastline and EEZ, with coastal states and Union Territories participating. Its geographical scope requires coordination across multiple jurisdictions. The exercise connects those local and regional arrangements within a national assessment of coastal defence.
How Sea Vigil connects with TROPEX
Sea Vigil also forms a build-up to the Navy's Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise (TROPEX). TROPEX is a biennial exercise, meaning it is held every two years. The Defence Ministry describes the two exercises together as addressing maritime-security challenges from coastal defence to high-seas operations.
Conclusion
Sea Vigil-26 examines coastal defence as a connected system. Its practical focus is the interaction between agencies, coastal governments and maritime communities across India's coast and surrounding economic waters. The readiness and sea phases provide the framework for that national assessment.
Sources
- Ministry of Defence: Sea Vigil-26 schedule, participants, geographical scope and TROPEX link
- Indian Coast Guard: coastal-security responsibilities and coordination
- Ministry of Home Affairs annual report: Navy, Coast Guard and coastal-police responsibilities
- NOAA National Ocean Service: Exclusive Economic Zone and resource rights