Indian Coast Guard conducts 12th National Maritime Search & Rescue Exercise (SAREX-2026)
SAREX-2026 simulated an aircraft ditching and ship collision, activating an incident command post and coordinating military, civil, port and state assets in a mass-rescue scenario.
Published on IPP
Author(s): Ministry of Defence, Government of India / Indian Coast Guard
Source: Press Information Bureau
Publisher(s): Press Information Bureau, Government of India
Publication date: 8 October 2026
Country: India
Why it matters in operational practice: The scenario demonstrates the value of exercising concurrent hazards, large casualty numbers, diverse assets and specialist recovery methods under one command structure.
Operational transferability: Directly relevant to maritime and aeronautical SAR; the command, inter-agency and resource-deconfliction principles transfer to complex land and disaster incidents.
Important methodological limitations: An organiser’s exercise release with no independent assessment, performance data or published lessons-identified report.
Training influence: Design command exercises with competing operational demands, explicit asset coordination, casualty-transfer arrangements and structured cross-agency briefings.
SAR training sections: Incident management; multi-agency coordination; resource selection and tasking; communications; casualty care and evacuation; handover.