Vice Admiral Murlidhar Sadashiv Pawar, the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff, is the man behind Indian Navy's operation to bring life saving medical Oxygen and critical medical equipment from friendly foreign countries. He says strict protocols have been enforced to maintain a bio bubble so that crew warships remain COVID-free.
In an exclusive interview to The WEEK, Vice Admiral Pawar talks about Indian Navy's multiple efforts in the time of heath crisis while maintaining the routine naval operations.
We were told that Indian Navy has deployed nine of its warships to bring medical oxygen from friendly foreign countries under Operation Samudra Setu II. Please share details about the mission and how critical the mission was?
The ongoing second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in India has created a crisis situation of the type unseen in our lifetime. The national capacities having been overwhelmed by the rapidity of the rise of the disease. There was an urgent need to course critical lifesaving medical supplied from friendly foreign countries. The Indian Navy launched Operation Samudra Setu II for this purpose. Nine warships have been deployed for ferrying critical stores, including liquid medical Oxygen filled containers, Oxygen concentrators and other associated medical equipment from countries in Persian Gulf and South East Asia. Indian Naval Ships Kolkata, Kochi, Talwar, Tabar, Trikand and Tarkash from the Western Naval Command, Shardul from the Southern Naval Command, and Jalashwa and Airavat from Eastern Naval Command have been deployed. We are coordinating the movement of our ships to maximize embarkation of critical material from multiple ports and ensure delivery in India as soon as possible. More naval ships, including those from Andaman and Nicobar Command are ready and available to ferry supplies of liquid medical Oxygen depending on the developing situation.
Can you give us an overview of Operation Samudra Setu. Give us the scope and challenges of the mission.
Indian Navy had launched Operation Samudra Setu during the first wave of the pandemic last year for repatriation of our nationals from overseas. This was a daring evolution given the contagious nature of the virus vis-à-vis the confined spaces and closed ventilation arrangement that exists onboard warships. IN ships Jalashwa, Shardul, Airavat and Magar traversed more than 23,000 km over 58 days to evacuate approximately 4,000 Indian citizens from Maldives, Sri Lanka and Iran under challenging circumstances.
The IN has continued to support the national effort during the second wave as well by deploying ships to support the island territories. Our ships ensured Oxygen supply to the islands of Lakshadweep & Minicoy by transporting cylinders to and from the mainland. This operation is ongoing and Naval ships and aircraft continue to be deployed as part of ‘Oxygen Express’ for delivery of COVID essentials to our island territories.
The major challenge that warships face in such missions pertains to the conflict between design of warships which is optimised for combat role vis-à-vis the requirement to carry loads. However, given the experience and expertise in HADR (humanitarian aid and disaster relief) missions, IN ships are able to improvise and adapt to the challenges at hand. In this mission, we see ships of different types, including destroyers, frigates, LST and LPD with active support of Fleet tankers. The second challenge is with respect to large distances required to be covered and the time taken in transit. However, ships are also uniquely qualified to carry Oxygen filled tanks as aircraft, for safety reasons, cannot be utilised for the same. Furthermore, the slower speeds of ships are easily offset by the volume of tonnage they can carry.
Navy has been on the forefront of multiple humanitarian and rescue missions in the past as well. We all know that the Indian Navy is already overloaded with security work due to our dangerous neighborhood. How quickly Indian Navy was able to turn around its warships from security deployment to humanitarian assistance missions?
Warships by nature are very versatile platforms which can change roles with alacrity and ease. This has been demonstrated many a time in the past not only during HADR missions, but also where fire power was required. For example, INS Godavari, whilst on a return passage from Australia was diverted to Maldives as part of Op Cactus in 1988 to intercept Merchant Vessel Progress Light whilst INS Prahar, exercising in the East Arabian Sea, was similarly dispatched to intercept the pirated MV Alondra Rainbow in 1999. Therefore in the present context, it was not difficult for the ships of the Western Fleet exercising in the North Arabian Sea under the command of the Fleet Commander onboard, to be diverted for Op Samudra Setu II.
Indian Navy maintains adequate surge capacity to scale up the operations if required as well as to cater for the prevailing security situation.
While deploying for humanitarian assistance, how are you ensuring routine operations of the Indian Navy?
Apart from the nine ships undertaking Operation Samudra Setu II, ours ships, submarines, and aircraft remain mission deployed in various parts of the Indian Ocean Region. Our ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) assets also continue to generate comprehensive maritime domain awareness in our areas of interest. The sea training organisations in all commands engaged in operational sea training are following strict COVID-19 protocols. It must be remembered that the ships involved in Op Samudra Setu II are all combat ready platforms who retain their capability to undertake operations they are designed for transit between foreign and Indian ports. Thus, notwithstanding the ongoing Op Samudra Setu II, we maintain a close watch on the prevailing security situation and ensure adequate force levels to respond to my contingencies. In view of the COVID situations, we have ensured 100 per cent vaccination for the crews. Secondly, strict protocols are enforced to maintain a bio bubble so that our platforms remain COVID19 free.
Recently, Indian Naval Ship Suvarna has recovered 300kg of narcotics from a fishing vessel in the Arabian Sea. Can you share more details about it?
The narcotics trade at sea largely emanates from the Makaran coast which offers a conducive staging point. The dhows carrying narcotics traverse south westwards to the East African coast as well as south east towards Maldives, Sri Lanka and India. As is well known, the spoils of this trade feed radicalisation, terrorism and crime syndicates. While large scale multinational efforts towards checking narcotics trade are focused in North Western Arabian Sea, the drug syndicates are increasingly focusing on the eastern route wherein it falls on the Indian maritime agencies to tackle the menace in coordination with our regional partners.
Indian Navy has helped with its medical team to set up a hospital in Ahmedabad and some areas of Maharashtra. Can you give us more details about it and immediate future plans and from where all (states) Indian Navy has received requests to help civil administration?
All naval stations across the country are closely engaged with the local civil administration to support and coordinate efforts. Our personnel, including doctors, nursing officers and paramedical staff, as well as Battle Field Nursing Assistants (BFNAs) have been deputed to various COVID facilities at Delhi, Ahmedabad, Patna and the Lakshadweep & Minicoy islands. At the Dhanvantri COVID Care hospital in Ahmedabad alone, IN has provided 169 personnel, including a logistics support team, to oversee the administration at the hospital. IN hospitals at Karanja (Mumbai), Karwar, Goa and Khorada, Orissa have earmarked 126 beds for civilian patients. IN teams have also helped some local hospitals with fire safety audits. At our ab-initio training establishment, INS Chilka in Odissa, a separate 150 bed COVID Care Centre has been set up to assist the district administration for treatment of COVID patients.
