Life onboard a Coast Guard ship is engaging, adventurous and challenging. From saving human lives at sea and assisting fishermen in peril, to apprehending poachers and preserving marine biodiversity, job satisfaction comes easy to a “Coast Guardsman”. Each day at sea is filled with promise, and each mission is different in an inimitable way.

Onboard every Coast Guard ship, there is a balanced mix of officers and sailors, belonging to different branches, divided into three groups, with each group working at respective stations twice for four hours every day, when the ship is at sea. In addition, during an emergent situation, all personnel close-up irrespective of time, day or night. A boat is sometimes launched from the ship to check another vessel at sea, or to provide technical or medical assistance. If so warranted, and to pursue fleeing offenders, the boat can even land ashore and engage culprits, sometimes with use of force.

The Blue colour of the Coast Guard ensign signifies a ship on Government Duty. On the Coast Guard ensign, there is a National flag on the top left quadrant, and a Coast Guard emblem in the fly part of the flag. The Coast Guard ensign was hoisted for the first time onboard the Indian Coast Guard Ship Kuthar on 19th August 1978, at the inaugural ceremony of the Indian Coast Guard at Bombay (now Mumbai).