KOCHI: In accordance with the Prime Minister’s vision of creating greater sea consciousness among the populace, especially in coastal areas, a visit to Naval Base Kochi, including a sea sortie, has been conducted by the Southern Naval Command (SNC) for MPs/MLAs/ officials of state government on Thursday. Seven MLAs and seven officials comprising representatives from various departments of the state government participated in the two-day event which began on Wednesday.
The participants of the event include MLAs K M Sachindev, M Vijin, C K Asha, Sanish Kumar Joseph, Roji John, Arun Kumar and Muhammad Muhasin, Kochi City police deputy commissioner Aishwarya Dongre and deputy secretary Priyamol.
A first-hand brief on the training and operational functioning of the Navy with emphasis on maritime strengths and challenges of Kerala was presented to the attendees. Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SNC, Vice Admiral A K Chawla interacted with them and sensitized them on the nuances of maritime domain, imperatives of maritime security and challenges thereof.
Familiarisation tours to various naval simulators on water survival, damage control, firefighting techniques on board ships and ship handling training were held. A special visit to INS Dronacharya at Fort Kochi was conducted and the team visited the maritime museum projecting the historical warfare capabilities of the Navy.
“The main attraction of the event was an exclusive ‘Day at Sea’ providing an opportunity of sailing on board naval warships so that the elected representatives as well as policy makers in the government could appreciate the dynamics of operating at sea, Navy’s war fighting and constabulary roles and current capability,” said a Navy statement.
During the sea sortie, the naval units demonstrated various facets of operations that included displays by aircraft, search and rescue operations, manoeuvres at sea, neutralization of asymmetric threats by versatile Water Jet Fast Attack Crafts as well as Fast Interceptor Crafts. One of the distinctive events was sail past by naval sail ships Tarangini and Sudharsini with naval cadets showcasing their sailing and rigging skills. Also, in a demonstration MLA Vijin was transferred from one ship to other ship at sea while both the vessels were on the move using ropes.
