Operation Samudra Setu has culminated after successfully bringing 3992 Indian citizens (from Male, Colombo and Bandar Abbas) back to their homeland by sea.
Operation Samudra Setu was launched on May 5, 2020 as part of the India’s effort to repatriate Indian citizens from overseas during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Indian Navy has previously undertaken similar evacuation operations as part of Operation Sukoon in 2006 (Beirut) and Operation Rahat in 2015 (Yemen).
Participating ships: Indian Naval Ships Jalashwa, Airavat, Shardul and Magar participated in this operation which lasted over 55 days and involved traversing more than 23 thousand kilometers by sea.
Mission SAGAR: Whilst Jalashwa, Magar, Airavat and Shardul were undertaking Op Samudra Setu, another Landing Ship (Tank) Kesari undertook ‘Mission SAGAR’, carrying 580 tonnes of food aid and medical stores including ayurvedic medicines to Maldives, Mauritius, Madagascar, Comoros Islands and Seychelles, covering over 14,000 km in 49 days. One medical team each was also deployed at Mauritius and Comoros Island as part of the mission.
Greatest Challenge: The greatest challenge for the Indian Navy was to avoid any incident of outbreak of infection onboard the ships during the evacuation operation.
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