SAREX-2026 brought the Indian Coast Guard, Navy, Air Force and other agencies together off Odisha’s Paradip coast on Thursday for a large-scale maritime search-and-rescue exercise designed to test how quickly they can locate, reach and evacuate people in distress at sea.
The exercise, the 12th National Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise, was held off the Odisha coast for the first time on such a large scale. It simulated a maritime emergency far from shore, where the distance from rescue bases and difficult operating conditions can complicate the search for survivors.
The Indian Coast Guard deployed 15 ships, two Dornier aircraft, three Advanced Light Helicopters and a Chetak helicopter for the drill. The Indian Air Force fielded a C-130J and Mi-17 aircraft, while the Indian Navy contributed two ships.
Participating teams carried out simulated search operations using air and sea assets to locate people in distress and move them to safety. The exercise also demonstrated specialised rescue capabilities intended for complex maritime emergencies and challenging operating conditions.
The deployment placed multiple types of platforms into a coordinated response framework. Ships and aircraft perform different functions during a maritime rescue: vessels can reach and recover survivors at sea, while aircraft can cover larger search areas and identify locations that may be difficult to detect from the water. The exercise tested how these capabilities work together during a crisis.
The drill also had an international dimension. Thirty-two observers from 30 countries witnessed the operations, allowing foreign representatives to assess India’s maritime search-and-rescue arrangements and the coordination between its defence and emergency-response agencies.
Union minister of state for defence Sanjay Seth inaugurated SAREX-2026 in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. He said such exercises were important for strengthening preparedness and inter-agency coordination and for ensuring a rapid response during maritime emergencies.
For India’s coastal and maritime administration, the exercise focused on the operational challenge of connecting agencies during an emergency rather than relying on a single rescue platform. A major incident at sea may require surveillance, search, aviation support, vessel-based recovery and evacuation to be organised as one response.
The Odisha exercise therefore placed readiness under conditions that required participating agencies to share operational roles across air and sea assets. The authorities have not provided details in the supplied report on the simulated incident, the time taken to locate survivors or the performance results recorded during the drill.
SAREX-2026 is the latest national exercise intended to test India’s maritime search-and-rescue response. Its proceedings off Paradip will conclude with the participating agencies’ demonstrated capabilities and coordination arrangements forming the basis for assessing preparedness during future emergencies at sea.
