This comes months after a similar operation on Dec 26, 2025, off the coast of Mumbai, which saw the Indian Coast Guard respond to a mock maritime distress call.

This comes months after a similar operation on Dec 26, 2025, off the coast of Mumbai, which saw the Indian Coast Guard respond to a mock maritime distress call.

This comes months after a similar operation on Dec 26, 2025, off the coast of Mumbai, which saw the Indian Coast Guard respond to a mock maritime distress call.

The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) on Thursday conducted a pollution response exercise in the Arabian Sea off Gujarat's Porbandar—the latest in a series of such exercises aimed at preparing for oil spills along the coast.

The Area-level Pollution Response Exercise (PREx-26) saw strong participation from as many as 31 maritime stakeholders, such as the Earth System Science Organisation - Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (ESSO-INCOIS), the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB), the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR), and the Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology (CMLRE).

"The exercise demonstrated strong inter-agency coordination, reaffirming the ICG's commitment to safeguarding Indian waters against marine pollution," it said in a statement on X after the operation.

This comes months after a similar operation on December 26, 2025, off the coast of Mumbai, aimed at making sure that Indian maritime authorities are prepared to combat oil spills, in line with the National Oil Spill Disaster Contingency Plan.

This Regional Level Pollution Response exercise (RPREx-2025) took place in response to a mock maritime accident: a distress call sent from a ship, which reported an oil spill due to a hole onboard, after it collided with a fishing boat, which led to the heavy spillage of crude oil into the sea.

To combat the spill, a specialised ICG Pollution Control Vessel (PCV)—along with two additional ICG ships—was deployed in a pollution response configuration.

But perhaps the biggest push for boosting the Coast Guard's pollution control responses has been the launch of the Samudra Pratap, a PCV commissioned by Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in January 2026.

Built by Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL), this is the first in a series of two indigenously designed PCVs (75 per cent Indian components) for the ICG.

ALSO READ | Meet the 'Samudra Pratap': Indian Coast Guard inducts first dedicated pollution control vessel that is 75% 'made in India'

Measuring 114.5m in length and 16.5 m in breadth, with a displacement of 4,170 tonnes, this is also the first ICG vessel to be equipped with Dynamic Positioning capability (DP-1), in addition to a FiFi-2/FFV-2 notation certificate.

The Samudra Pratap also contains advanced systems to detect oil spills, such as an oil finger printing machine, a gyro-stabilised Standoff Active Chemical Detector, and pollution control lab equipment.

This will aid high-precision operations at sea that involve recovering pollutants from viscous oil, analysing contaminants, or separating oil from contaminated waters.

The second in the series is the Samudra Prachet, which is yet to be delivered after its launch in 2024.

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