Coast Guard’s remote operating station opened

The remote operating station (ROS) of the coastal surveillance sensor chain of Kerala cluster was launched here on Saturday.

Vice-Admiral M P Muralidharan, Director-General, Indian Coast Guard, inaugurated the ROS at the Coast Guard District Headquarters in Fort Kochi.

Speaking after the inauguration, the Vice-Admiral said in addition to the four radar stations in this phase, the state will get two more stations in the second phase.

The chain of static sensor project along the Indian coast was conceptualised to provide real-time surveillance cover for up to 25 nautical miles.

Coast Guard is implementing the project through Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a cost of Rs 601.75 crore. The project envisages high-end surveillance gadgets, electro optic sensors, communication equipment and met equipment on lighthouses at 46 locations across the country, including island territories.

The data generated by the static sensors will be available over a hierarchical network connecting Coast Guard district headquarters, regional headquarters and the Coast Guard Headquarters in New Delhi.

The data would also be integrated with other monitoring systems like Automatic Identification System (AIS) and Long Range Identification and Tracking Systems (LRIT).

The sensor data generated through this complex sensor mesh, would be shared with other maritime agencies. Phase-II of the project envisages augmentation of the radar chain by additional sensors, and mobile sensor platforms.

On completion of the project, the entire coast line of the country will get electronic surveillance into the sea. In Kerala, the feed and data from the four coastal surveillance radars at Ezhimala, Ponnani, Vypeen and Kollam will be available at the ROS, Fort Kochi.

Two more additional sensors will be installed at Alappuzha and Azheekode in the phasetwo of the project.