India’s extensive maritime search and rescue (SAR) responsibilities

Why in News?
The Panama-flagged bulk carrier MV Ocean Winner sank on 22 August in the Bay of Bengal, around 230 nautical miles off the Odisha coast, after issuing a distress alert. The incident highlighted India’s extensive maritime search and rescue (SAR) responsibilities beyond its territorial waters.

Key Points:

• MV Ocean Winner had departed Paradip Port, Odisha, carrying around 72,100 tonnes of iron ore.
• The vessel issued a distress alert approximately 378 nautical miles east of Visakhapatnam, after which communication was lost.
• The vessel sank around 230 nautical miles from the Indian coast, placing it outside India’s territorial waters and EEZ, but within India’s Search and Rescue Region (SRR).
• Territorial waters: Extend up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline, where the coastal state exercises sovereignty.
• Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ): Extends up to 200 nautical miles, where the coastal state has sovereign rights over resources but does not exercise full sovereignty.
• Indian Search and Rescue Region (ISRR): Covers approximately 4.6 million sq km in the Indian Ocean—about twice the area of India’s EEZ.
• India’s maritime SAR activities are coordinated by the National Maritime Search and Rescue Coordinating Authority, headed by the Director-General of the Indian Coast Guard.
• The ISRR is divided into three major zones:
  • MRCC Mumbai: Western seaboard and Arabian Sea.
  • MRCC Chennai: Eastern seaboard and Bay of Bengal.
  • MRCC Sri Vijaya Puram (Port Blair): Andaman and Nicobar region, covering around 9 lakh sq km.
• Ships in distress can use the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), an IMO-developed international system for transmitting emergency alerts.
• Digital Selective Calling (DSC) is a primary means of transmitting distress alerts and automatically communicates the vessel’s nine-digit Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) number.
• The incident illustrates that search-and-rescue jurisdiction is distinct from territorial sovereignty or the EEZ.

Source: IE

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