Table of Contents
INDIAN OCEAN
THE INDIAN OCEAN IS IMPORTANT FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
It enjoys a privileged location at the crossroads of global trade, connecting the major engines of the international economy in the Northern Atlantic and Asia-Pacific. This is particularly important in an era in which global shipping has burgeoned. Indian Ocean is also rich in natural resources. 40% of the world’s offshore oil production takes place in the Indian Ocean basin. Fishing in the Indian Ocean now accounts for almost 15% of the world’s total. Mineral resources are equally important, with nodules containing nickel, cobalt, and iron, and massive sulphide deposits of manganese, copper, iron, zinc, silver, and gold present in sizeable quantities on the sea bed. Indian Ocean coastal sediments are also important sources of titanium, zirconium, tin, zinc, and copper. Additionally, various rare earth elements are present, even if their extraction is not always commercially feasible.
STEPS TAKEN TO GUARD INDIA’S INTERESTS
Information Fusion Centre (IFC) The IFC-IOR is established with the vision of strengthening maritime security in the region by building a common coherent maritime situation picture and acting as a maritime information hub for the region. The IFC has been established at the Navy’s Information Management and Analysis Centre (IMAC) in Gurugram. IMAC is the single point centre linking all the coastal radar chains to generate a seamless real-time picture of the nearly 7,500-km coastline.
WHITE SHIPPING AGREEMENTS
India already has bilateral White Shipping Agreements with 36 countries. What is White Shipping Agreement? White Shipping Agreement (WSA) is an information network protocol that allows the navies of two countries to exchange information about ships in their oceanic territories. Ships would be classified into white (commercial ships), grey (military vessels), and black (illegal vessels)
TRANS REGIONAL MARITIME NETWORK (T-RMN)
AIS SYSTEMS ON SHIPS
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- The information is available primarily through the Automatic Identification System (AIS) fitted on merchant ships with more than 300 gross registered tonnages as mandated by the International Maritime Organisation.
- The AIS information comprises name, MMSI number, position, course, speed, last port visited, destination and so on.
- This information can be picked up through various AIS sensors including coastal AIS chains and satellite based receivers.
INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION
The International Maritime Organization (IMO) Headquarters – London, United Kingdom
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