The ICGS Varaha Mombasa port call ended on Thursday, closing a visit to Kenya by the Indian Coast Guard offshore patrol vessel that began on Monday. The ship spent the week working with the Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS) on boarding, firefighting and rescue drills.

Varaha is in East Africa on an overseas deployment.

Commanding Officer calls on Kenya Coast Guard Director General

The ship's Commanding Officer called on the Director General of the KCGS during the visit. According to the Indian Coast Guard, the two sides discussed widening bilateral maritime security arrangements and closer coordination between the two forces.

Varaha and KCGS crews train on boarding, firefighting and damage control

Most of the visit went into professional exchanges. Crews worked through maritime search and rescue, marine pollution response and maritime law enforcement.

Varaha's crew staged live firefighting and damage control demonstrations. Kenyan personnel also received hands-on training in Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS), the drill used to stop and inspect a suspect vessel at sea. The Indian Coast Guard said the sessions were meant to share tactical knowledge, reinforce best practices and improve the ability of the two forces to work together against shared maritime threats in the region.

Ship opened to visitors in Mombasa

Varaha also hosted guided tours for visitors, who were shown the ship's systems and equipment. The Indian Coast Guard presented the vessel as an example of Indian shipbuilding under the Make in India and Aatmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.

ICGS Varaha Mombasa visit is the ship's second to Kenya

Varaha has called at Mombasa before. It arrived there on 5 February 2024 for a three-day visit during an earlier Africa deployment, then sailed on to Maputo in Mozambique nine days later. Mombasa is the headquarters of the KCGS, which Kenya raised in 2018 as a force separate from its Navy.

The ship is the fourth of seven 98-metre offshore patrol vessels designed and built by Larsen and Toubro at its Kattupalli yard near Chennai. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh commissioned it at Chennai on 25 September 2019.

Coast Guard visits to Kenya have become routine. ICGS Sachet made a four-day call at Mombasa in September 2025 for exchanges with the KCGS, and in September this year ICGS Shaunak sailed from Chennai for Perth under the Quad-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission.

Third Indian Navy or Coast Guard ship in Mombasa this year

The Indian Coast Guard placed the visit under SAGAR, Security and Growth for All in the Region, and described India as a dependable maritime partner for the Global South. The High Commission of India in Nairobi linked the frequent ship visits to the India-Kenya BAHARI joint vision and India's MAHASAGAR vision.

According to the High Commission, the ICGS Varaha Mombasa call is the third by an Indian Navy or Coast Guard ship this year. The frigate INS Trikand, which answered a piracy distress call in the Western Indian Ocean in June, made an operational turnaround at Mombasa in April. INS Tarkash was alongside from 29 September to 2 October and later sailed for the IBSAMAR IX exercise in South Africa.