Guardians of the sea: Indian Navy has its job cut out in unstable waters

New Delhi: A dramatic intervention in the high seas, which saw the deployment of airborne troops 2,600 km away from the mainland to capture heavily armed pirates and rescue the crew of a merchant vessel, was a first of its kind operation conducted by Indian maritime forces.

An Indian warship had disabled the merchant vessel but did not have adequate special forces onboard to take on a 35 Somalia pirates. The warship requested urgent assistance and a complex operation was launched to prepare a long-range C 17 aircraft, load it with marine commandos and special equipment for an unprecedented airborne intervention. The action against pirates, who have infested waters around Somalia and have even struck deep in the middle of the Arabian Sea, is part of a series of action the Navy has taken over the past few months. This includes rescuing fishing vessels that have been captured, boarding and search of suspicious vessels and rendering assistance to merchant vessels that are under drone and missile attacks.

The Crisis At Hand

The maritime threat perception around India is at its highest level in decades. India's rise as an economic and growing military power has come with its own set of challenges -- the Army got tested on the Ladakh border by a belligerent China, the Air Force was called in to deliver strikes deep into Pakistan to respond to terror threats and the Navy is now facing multi-dimensional opponents in the Indian Ocean. Almost 95% of the Indian trade by volume moves through the seas and the revival of piracy in the Gulf of Aden has come at a time when merchant traffic is facing relentless strikes by Houti rebels and mysterious drones that are striking ships with high accuracy in the high seas. In response to the two threats on the western front, the Navy has rolled out its strongest-ever deployment in the Gulf of Aden. At any given time, 11 warships are on patrol to protect maritime traffic and intervene when needed. Long-range drones and maritime surveillance aircraft are airborne and airborne troops kept ready for rapid deployment.

In the past 100 days, over 21 warships have been deployed, 5,000 personnel put out to sea and 900 hours of flying by aerial assets conducted to address threats. Indian warships have safely escorted 15 lakh tonne of critical commodities like crude oil and fertilisers and have conducted nearly 1,000 boarding operations of suspicious vessels. With direct intervention, 110 lives have been saved, including 45 Indian sea farers.

The Enabler
A key enabler to the rapid Naval response has been the enactment of the Maritime Anti-Piracy Act last year and the setting up of clear and concise standard operating procedures that enable quick decision making and empowerment of ships to intervene at short notice. The Maritime Anti-Piracy Act, which was notified in February 2023, gives direct authority to Indian warships to act against piracy.

The Act gives effect to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea relating to repression of piracy on high seas and empowers warships to intervene when required. As per the SOPs, when information of a threat is received, an executive authority under the Deputy Chief of Naval Staff is activated, which includes representatives from concerned departments including Ministry of External Affairs. If it is suspected to be under attack or under the control of pirates,. the operator of the vessel is contacted to get consent for boarding operations.

Final approvals to conduct the operation are granted by the Committee of Secretaries on Anti-Piracy and Hijacking at sea under the chairmanship of the Cabinet Secretary that are obtained within the shortest possible time to enable rapid response.

The most important factor to the numerous successful operations to rescue pirated vessels and rescue seafarers has been political will to act swiftly and decisively.

The China Factor
Compounding the Navy's tasks in the Indian Ocean has been the steady increase of Chinese military presence. At any given point of time, five to seven Chinese military vessels are present in the Indian Ocean, a number that has steadily been going up in the past decade as Beijing seeks to expand influence and open more overseas military bases like the one on Djibouti.

At present, at least four Chinese research vessels, including a missile and satellite tracking ship, are present in the Indian Ocean, requiring constant monitoring. Chinese nuclear and conventional submarines have been frequenting the region and the presence of survey ships suggests that these deployments will increase over time. By most estimates, it is a matter of another year or so before Chinese aircraft carriers will have the capability to sail into the Indian Ocean region as well, far away from their current deployment patterns in the South China Sea.

To counter potential threats at both the eastern and western fronts, the Indian Navy at present has an unprecedented 46 warships at sea -- a number that includes 11 conventional submarines, destroyers and stealth frigates.

The Way Ahead
The challenging maritime environment will require greater resources for the Navy in the immediate term. Creating maritime capability is a time and cost-intensive effort and the long build time for ships and submarines requires advance planning and resource allocation. While a debate is still on if the Navy requires a third aircraft carrier, there is no dispute that the number of frontline destroyers, frigates and submarines needs to be bolstered to meet upcoming challenges. At present, 41 warships and submarines are under construction in Indian shipyards and orders for at least a dozen more are in the pipeline. These include large Landing Platform Docks that can rapidly deploy soldiers for offensive operations and minesweepers to protect ports and harbours.

The Navy has been projecting indigenous shipbuilding as a multiplier for the Indian economy. By its estimates, an order for about ₹1.5 lakh crore in naval shipbuilding projects would accrue a circulation of ₹2.73 lakh crore in the shipbuilding sector due to a multiplier effect. According to its estimates, shipbuilding also has one of the highest employment multipliers of 6.48. An often cited example is the recently commissioned INS Vikrant aircraft carrier that engaged close to 500 MSMEs, 12,000 employees from ancillary industries and 2,000 shipyard employees during its build process.