Over the past two days, 178 coastal wardens, drawn from the fishing community across the State, were trained by the city-based Southern Naval Command, in survival at sea, rope work, boat-handling and navigation.
The unique marine familiarisation programme comprised nautical subjects as well as lessons in navigation and coastal security. The training was given at the Seamanship School, after which they were introduced to various systems fitted at the Joint Operations Centre (JOC), Kochi, for keeping watch on the security of the State’s coast.
The wardens were also sensitised to the threats that could emanate from the sea. According to a Defence press release, various procedures to be followed on detecting a security threat at sea or when faced with a life-threatening situation were explained to them. “The trainees were also shown around the Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) of Sagar Prahari Bal (Kochi) – a unit of the Navy which carries out round-the-clock patrolling of the coastline to guard against any security threat and is also part of search and rescue operations in times of emergency,” said the release.
The familiarisation programme for coastal wardens was part of their curriculum at the Kerala Police Academy, Thrissur, where they are undergoing training to strengthen coastal security and to be equipped for effective lifesaving at sea.