Silver Jubilee Seminar at Naval Base, Kochi

Silver Jubilee Seminar at Naval Base, Kochi

A two-day Seminar on ‘Operational Sea Training and Safety Onboard’ being conducted by Flag officer Sea Training (FOST), on the occasion of silver jubilee commenced on 20 Dec 17 at Southern Naval Command (SNC), Kochi with Admiral Sunil Lanba PVSM, AVSM, ADC, the Chief of the Naval Staff as the Chief Guest. The inaugural address for the seminar was given by Vice Admiral AR Karve AVSM, the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, SNC while the CNS delivered the keynote address. The seminar was attended by Flag Officers (including erstwhile FOSTs), officers and sailors from Integrated Headquarters Ministry of Defence (Navy) and all Naval Commands.

CNS delivering the keynote address

The first day of the seminar witnessed presentation of papers by speakers from Indian Navy on the themes –‘Combat Efficiency through Operational Sea Training’ and ‘Promoting Safety Onboard’. A compendium of the papers presented was also released by the CNS. The seminar would have an international flavour on the second day with participation of 18 delegates from friendly foreign countries – Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Oman, UAE and Mauritius. FOST, with headquarters in Kochi is responsible for the conduct Operational Sea Training (OST) for all the ships of Indian Navy, through three Work Up teams located at Kochi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. ‘Operational Sea Training’ involves comprehensive training of a ship and its crew, to prepare it, as a team to perform its full range of tasks during peace and war.

Release of Compendium

Indian Naval Workup team, which is headed by FOST, has been undertaking sea training service for not only the Indian Navy, but also Coast Guard and foreign navy ships since 1992. Over the last 25 years, the organisation has trained the crew of over 1075 ships and submarines from the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign countries. Training for 16 foreign ships and regular interaction with foreign navies/ coast guards has helped exchange best practices, while strengthening bonds of maritime cooperation.