About Small Vessel Advisory and Forecast Services System (SVAS)
SVAS is an innovative impact-based advisory and forecast service for small vessels operating in Indian coastal waters. It predicts potential overturning zones 10 days in advance using a Boat Safety Index (BSI), calculated from wave height, steepness, directional spread, and rapid wind-sea development.
Advisories are boat-specific and issued based on the beam width category: less than 4m, 6m, and 7m, covering all fishing vessel types across 9 coastal Indian states and union territories.
Popular Boat Categories and Beam Widths Across Coastal States
State
Beam Width
Boat Category
Gujarat
5–6 m 4.5–5 m 2.5–3 m
Trawls Gill netters Dol Net Systems
Maharashtra
4.8–5 m 2.1 m 3.5 m 3.5–4 m 2.5 m
Trawls Purse Seiners Gill netters Hook and Line Dol Net Systems
Goa
4–4.5 m 4–6.5 m 4–4.5 m
Trawls Purse Seiners Gill netters
Karnataka
5 m 4–4.5 m
Trawls Purse Seiners
Kerala
5.5 m 6 m 4–4.5 m 4–6 m 5.5 m
Trawls Purse Seiners Ring Seine Gill netters Hook and Line
Tamil Nadu
5.5 m 4–5.5 m 5.5 m
Trawls Gill netters Hook and Line
Andhra Pradesh
5 m 4.5–5 m 4.5–5 m
Trawls Gill netters Hook and Line
Odisha
4–5.5 m 4.5–5 m
Trawls Gill netters
West Bengal
4–5 m 4–5.5 m
Trawls Gill netters
Indian National Center for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS)
