A three-day Coast Guard District Commanders’ Conference for the eastern region was held in Chennai to review the current situation and deployment of resources and men and to discuss future plans. Commanders from West Bengal, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu as well as Commanding Officers of Coast Guard ships and Air Squadrons attended the conference.

Cmde RS Vasan, Commander, Coast Guard Region (East) while addressing the conference highlighted the Coast Guard's activities in the region during last year. He said that the Coast Guard apprehended 100 Bangladeshis and 24 Sri Lankan fishermen. Sixtythree boats and 363 Indian fishermen were repatriated from Sri Lanka in Palk Bay under the supervision of Indian Coast Guard. Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at the Coast Guard Regional Headquarters in Chennai provided assistance to 19 fishing boats and five merchant vessels. Recently, Coast Guard rescued about 50 crew belonging to three ships at distress off the East Coast. Indian Coast Guard ships paid visits to Bangladesh and Myanmar ports for the first time.

Regarding the Coast Guard development plan for the eastern region, Cmde Vasan said that two Coast Guard stations at Pondicherry and Kakinada, for which lands have been identified, would be set up by 2007. In the next phase, three more stations at Nagapattinam, Machilipattinam and Gopalpur would be set up.