India’s Maritime Security Architecture and Agencies

India’s maritime security system is built to guard a long coastline, busy sea lanes and vast maritime zones through coordinated action by the Navy, Coast Guard, police and port-security authorities. The framework is designed to protect sovereignty, prevent threats at sea and regulate security across ports and coastal waters.

Three-Tier Coastal Security Framework

• Outermost tier: The Indian Navy handles maritime defence on the high seas and in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
• Intermediate tier: The Indian Coast Guard (ICG) patrols the EEZ and the Contiguous Zone, up to 200 nautical miles from the coast.
• Innermost tier: State Marine Police forces cover internal waters and territorial seas up to 12 nautical miles from the baseline.
• Coordination: These three tiers are supervised by the National Maritime Security Coordinator (NMSC), a post held by Vice Admiral (Retd) Biswajit Dasgupta since April 2025.

Key Leadership and Command Structure

• Chief of the Naval Staff: Admiral Krishna Swaminathan assumed charge as the 27th Chief of the Naval Staff on May 31, 2026, succeeding Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi.
• Deputy Chief of Naval Staff: Vice Admiral A.N. Pramod assumed office on August 1, 2026.
• Director General, Indian Coast Guard: Paramesh Sivamani became the 26th DG ICG on October 15, 2024.
• NMSC office: It coordinates civilian and military maritime domains and moved to Vice Admiral (Retd) Biswajit Dasgupta after Vice Admiral (Retd) G. Ashok Kumar.

Legislative Framework and Port Security

• Merchant Shipping Act, 2025: The Act received presidential assent on August 18, 2025, and came into force on March 15, 2026.
• Repeals: It repealed the Merchant Shipping Act of 1958 and the Coasting Vessels Act of 1838.
• Bureau of Port Security (BoPS): Section 13 of the Act establishes BoPS under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for ship and port-facility safety.
• Transition arrangement: During the one-year transition period, the Director General of Shipping (DGMA) acts as the Director General of BoPS.
• Permanent head: After the transition, the Director General of BoPS will be an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Pay Level-15.
• CISF role: The Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) is the Recognised Security Organisation (RSO) for ports and is mandated to train and certify Private Security Agencies (PSAs) under the BoPS framework.
• Maritime Security Branch: Constituted under DGS Order No. 2 of 2023, it coordinates threat responses with the Indian Navy, the Ministry of External Affairs and international organizations.

Doctrinal and Strategic Guidelines

• Indian Navy Maritime Security Strategy 2026 (INMSS-2026): Released in April 2026, it is the Navy’s third public maritime security strategy document and is titled Securing the Blue Frontiers.
• Grey-Zone Warfare: The strategy addresses persistent competition below the threshold of open conflict.
• Ends-Ways-Means-Risks framework: INMSS-2026 uses this framework to link objectives, methods, resources and risk.
• Indian Maritime Doctrine 2025 (IMD-25): It is the primary doctrinal statement and defines No War No Peace (NWNP) conditions and multi-domain operations.
• Indian Ports Rules, 2026: Notified in August 2026 under the Indian Ports Act, 2025, they update administrative and security protocols across ports.

Key Prelims Takeaways

• Indian Navy: Supreme maritime defence responsibility for the high seas and EEZ.
• Indian Coast Guard: Monitors the EEZ and Contiguous Zone up to 200 nautical miles.
• State Marine Police: Handle internal waters and territorial seas up to 12 nautical miles.
• NMSC: Coordinates the three-tier coastal security system; held by Vice Admiral (Retd) Biswajit Dasgupta since April 2025.
• Merchant Shipping Act, 2025: Enforced from March 15, 2026; repealed the 1958 and 1838 laws.
• BoPS: Created under Section 13 of the Merchant Shipping Act, 2025, to oversee port and ship safety.
• CISF: Designated RSO for ports and responsible for certifying PSAs under the new security framework.