EMSA and the EU agency for law enforcement cooperation, Europol, will join forces following the signature of a working arrangement by their respective executive directors on 18 December 2018. EMSA will provide Europol with access to maritime and surveillance information services to support Europol activities.
Specifically, the user training, feedback mechanisms and the collection of Europol requirements will be an integrated part of this cooperation.
EMSA’s Integrated Maritime Services (IMS) will be utilized by Europol’s staff in law enforcement and organised crime activities in the sea.
In addition the IMS aims to:
- Promote and increase regional, national and local cooperation;
- Provide additional, complementary and supportive data, information and tools for enhancing the maritime domain picture;
- Provide relevant services to all authorities/organisations executing functions in the maritime domain;
- Respond to detailed needs and requirements as specified by users;
- Provide services to users which are easy to use, fast to develop and cost-effective to run.
Moreover, Europol will have the ability to access a comprehensive and up-to-date maritime picture, connected to their needs.
Both the IMS historical track and Automatic Behaviour Monitoring (ABM) capabilities will be particularly useful to follow vessels of interest and support relevant investigations.
In addition, ABM’s are Integrated Maritime Services tools analysing position reports for the detection and alerting on specific ships’ behaviours.
