Navy all set for Presidential Fleet Review off Visakhapatnam coast on February 21

This will be the 12th Presidential Fleet Review. The last one was conducted in 2016 when Pranab Mukherjee was the President.

President Ram Nath Kovind will review the Indian Navy’s fleet at the Presidential Fleet Review 2022 on February 21 off the Visakhapatnam coast in Andhra Pradesh. The review will also commemorate India’s 75th　year of Independence. The Navy has　declared the theme of　the event as ‘Indian Navy — 75 Years on Service of the Nation’.

Around 60-odd Indian Naval warships, submarines, auxiliary vessels, assets of the Coast Guard, the Shipping Corporation of India and the National Institute of Ocean Technology, and over 50 aircraft are scheduled to participate in the　review.　As part of the　ceremony, there will be a review at the anchorage, a steampast in a mobile column, a flypast, and parade of sails.　

This will be the 12th　Presidential Fleet Review – the last one was conducted in 2016 when Pranab Mukherjee was the President. Of the 11 conducted so far, two have been International Fleet Reviews — in 2001 and 2016. The first　Presidential Fleet Review, by President　Rajendra Prasad, was held in 1953 off the coast of Bombay (now Mumbai).

Second only to the Republic Day Parade at Rajpath in terms of significance, the Presidential Review is undertaken by every President once in his term. The fleet review according to the Indian Navy is a "long-standing tradition followed by navies all across the world". It is "an assembly of ships at a pre-designated place for the purpose of displaying loyalty and allegiance to the sovereign and the state".

By reviewing the ships, the President, as the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, "reaffirms his faith in the fleet and its ability to defend the nation’s maritime interest".

During the review, the 60-odd vessels will be anchored in a formation of four precise columns, with President Ram Nath Kovind reviewing the ships by ‘steaming past’ them on board a naval vessel designated as the ‘Presidential Yacht’.

The President’s Yacht, according to the Navy, is an indigenously built Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel, Indian Naval Ship Sumitra, which will lead the Presidential Column. The yacht is distinguished by the Ashoka Emblem on her side and will fly the President’s Standard on the mast. After a Ceremonial Guard of Honour and a 21-Gun Salute, the President will embark on the Presidential Yacht and sail through 44 ships lined up at anchorage off the Visakhapatnam coast.

Stated a Naval spokesperson: "Each ship will render a salute to the Supreme Commander as the Yacht sails past. Indian Naval aircraft would simultaneously fly overhead the formation rendering their salute."

The President will also review the Indian Naval Air Arm which will include a spectacular fly-past by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. In the final stage of the review, a mobile column of warships and submarines will steam past the Presidential Yacht. The display will also showcase the latest acquisitions of the Indian Navy.

Several enthralling waterfront activities, including parade of sails, search and rescue demonstration at sea, aerobatics by Hawk aircraft and water para jumps by the Marine Commandos (MARCOS) of the Indian Navy, will also be conducted.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,　Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhushan Harichandan, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and his Cabinet colleagues will be attending the review.