Sea Vigil-26 Coastal Defence Exercise Begins Across India

India's coastal shield was put to the test afresh on 11 November 2026 with the start of Sea Vigil-26, the fifth edition of the pan-India coastal defence exercise. The Indian Navy is the lead agency coordinating it, and the drill runs until 19 November 2026.

Two phases, nine days

The exercise has been split in two. First comes the Coastal Defence and Security Readiness Evaluation, usually shortened to CDSRE, which occupies the days from 11 to 17 November. The Sea Phase follows on 18 and 19 November, when activity shifts to the water itself. Together the two parts allow planners to judge both the paperwork and the practice of coastal security.

Born out of the Mumbai attacks

Sea Vigil is not an old exercise. It was conceived in 2018 with a plain purpose: to check whether the steps taken to tighten maritime security after the 26/11 terror attacks on Mumbai actually work when tried. Each edition therefore examines the chain of watchfulness that stretches from a fishing jetty to a naval operations room.

How wide it reaches

Few Indian exercises cover as much ground. Sea Vigil-26 spreads over the entire coastline of the country and its Exclusive Economic Zone, drawing in every coastal State and Union Territory along with fishing and coastal communities, whose eyes on the water are treated as part of the security grid. Assets of the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard, the Coastal Security Police, Customs and other maritime agencies are taking part. Five ministries are helping to run it, namely Defence, Home Affairs, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, besides other central and state agencies.

A step towards TROPEX

The exercise also works as a build-up to the Navy's biennial Theatre Level Readiness Operational Exercise, known as TROPEX. Read together, Sea Vigil and TROPEX cover the whole span of maritime security, from guarding the shoreline to fighting on the high seas. Holding Sea Vigil at the national level lets the country assess its preparedness for maritime security and coastal defence at the highest level, and the Ministry expects this edition to yield a realistic assessment and further strengthening of India's maritime and national security.