New Delhi, Nov 15 : A two-day search and rescue exercise by the Indian Coast Guard began in the Bay of Bengal off the coast of Port Blair today.

Various maritime agencies, including the Andaman and Nicobar Administration, are participating in the Search and Rescue Exercise, codenamed SAREX-07.

The exercise aims to prepare contingency plans for quick response for tackling natural and manmade disasters like tsunami and oil spill.

The exercise will fine-tune contingency plans to test the alerting, mobilization and management of resources for search and rescue and the welfare of survivors, a release issued by the Ministry of Defence stated.

It will also help national and local authorities and other emergency services deal with a major maritime search and rescue operations as laid down under International Maritime Organization (IMO) guidelines, it added.

Mock missions for mass rescue and evacuation of ship will also be undertaken during the exercise.

Increasing traffic of cargo, oil tankers and passenger liners in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean have posed a challenge to disaster management agencies.

The Indian Coast Guard, which has been delegated as the coordinating agency for search and rescue missions the Indian Maritime Zone, has three maritime rescue coordination centres at Mumbai, Chennai and Port Blair, besides 10 sub-centres in the country. (ANI)