Indian coastguard’s latest and largest offshore patrol vessel, ICGS Samarth has arrived in Maldives for join surveillance of the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
ICGS Samarth is scheduled to patrol the EEZ with Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) coastguard for five days from this Sunday to Thursday.
The Joint EEZ surveillance of Maldives is a serial joint operation by Indian navy and MNDF to check for any illegal activities within the EEZ.
The operation was launched in 2009.
The joint patrol was last conducted with INS Rana, a Rajput-class destroyer of the Indian coastguard, from December 9-14, 2018.