"Modern maritime security is not the responsibility of any single agency." Examine India's maritime Search and Rescue architecture in the light of this statement.

India's Search and Rescue Region (ISRR) covers about 4.6 million sq km [1]. That is far more ocean than any single force can patrol. India's SAR system is therefore built across many agencies by design. Its gaps show that good coordination works only when every agency has the ships, aircraft and devices to do its part.

Multi-agency architecture: the statement in practice

• Legal duty: The SAR Convention, 1979 requires states to help anyone in distress at sea, regardless of nationality [6].
• Coordination body: The NMSAR Board was set up in 2002 and is chaired by the DG of the Coast Guard. Every year it brings together the Navy, IAF, ISRO, INCOIS, DG Shipping, ports, fisheries departments and coastal States to review the National SAR Plan [2].
• Space segment: ISRO's INMCC at ISTRAC Bengaluru relays distress alerts for India and 7 neighbouring countries [3]. India's MEOLUT ground station is now fully operational [1].
• Fishing boats: ISRO's DAT-SG sends a boat's alert through INMCC to the Coast Guard's MRCCs and confirms to the fisher that it was received [4]. INCOIS sends cyclone and tsunami warnings to boats through NavIC [7].
• International partners: SAREX-2026, off Paradip, drew 32 delegates from 30 nations to test how well forces work together [1].

Beacon / DAT-SG → ISRO satellite → INMCC (Bengaluru) → ICG MRCC
      → Navy | IAF | Ports | Coastal Police | Fishers → Rescue

Fig: India's SAR alert-to-rescue chain

Gaps in the architecture

• Too few ships and aircraft: A CAG audit (Report No. 7 of 2011) found the Coast Guard had only 65% of the ships and 48% of the aircraft it needed [5]. A faster alert does not cut the time taken to reach the scene.
• Helicopters not fit for rescue: The same audit found ALH helicopters could not fly SAR missions because hoist certification and auto-hover software were pending [5].
• Failures not recorded: The Coast Guard could not say how many missions failed for lack of resources [5].
• Boats without beacons: Satellites detect only distress beacons [3], so boats without one cannot be seen.

Way forward

• The NMSAR Board should publish yearly results: response times, lives saved and missions that failed.
• Match ship and aircraft numbers to the faster alerts, and certify helicopters before counting them as SAR assets.
• Coastal States should fit two-way DAT-SG on every fishing boat and push NavIC warnings so fewer boats need rescue.

India's SAR system bears out the statement: satellites, the Coast Guard, States and fishers form one chain. Strengthening its weakest links through the Whole-of-Government, Whole-of-Nation approach [1] would protect life at sea, the core aim of the SAR Convention.