Tag: maritime security

Australia will resume the Senate Inquiry into Flag of Convenience Shipping. The inquiry comes in the wake of double murder findings by the NSW Coroner, investigating the deaths of two foreign seafarers aboard MV Sage Sagittarius in Australia, in 2012.

The Port of Charleston in the US is now open again following its evacuation due to a threat of a 'dirty bomb' onboard the Maersk Memphis container ship, USCG officials confirmed that no threat found. Also, the safety zone which had been established around the vessel for the investigation, has been lifted.

Combined Maritime Force recently visited the Dubai-based UKMTO to discuss security issues with global maritime industry representatives, attending the Maritime Information Exchange Vessel Operators Meeting. MIEVOM is a valuable opportunity for merchant vessel owners to discuss ways to collaborate more closely with military naval officers to maintain safe seas and pirate-free waters off Somalia.

Africa Center issued a report, entitled "Criminality in Africa’s Fishing Industry: A Threat to Human Security", where it informs that the weak accountability of Africa’s fisheries sector enables unsustainable exploitation by foreign fishing firms and undercuts the political will needed to build more robust surveillance and prosecutorial capacity.

US MARAD issued a Maritime Advisory, providing guidance to U.S. flagged operators with vessels transiting the Gulf of Guinea. As pirates/ armed groups operating in the GoG region continue to carry out attacks on vessels, using automatic weapons, US MARAD strongly recommends operators to forward this Advisory to their ships.

Politicians, industry stakeholders and maritime Flagship Projects agree on the need to focus on cross-sectorial cooperation, education and training, as well as enforcement of regulations, to turn the region into a leading clean and safe shipping region. This was the outcome of a seminar held in Brussels, on 30 May, under the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.

On 2 June 2017, the European Maritime Safety Agency, along with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency and the European Fisheries Control Agency presented the results of the pilot project "Creation of a European coastguard function", in a Closing Workshop held at the premises of EMSA in Lisbon.

ECSA’s Maritime Security Working Group recently had an exchange of views with the European Border and Coast Guard Agency in Warsaw concerning maritime security issues and particularly the challenging issue of migrants at sea. Although the number of migrants rescued from the sea has gone down from 2015, merchant vessels are still often involved in the Search and Rescue operations in central, western and eastern Mediterranean.

Speaking in Lagos, NIMASA Director General informed that the government approved the procurement of three helicopters and twelve fast intervention vessels, to ensure coastal and aerial surveillance and patrol of the Nigerian maritime environment.

Jamaica’s Special Envoy to IMO Council, Rear Admiral Peter Brady, is calling for the implementation of internationally accepted regulations, to effectively promote maritime safety, security, improved working conditions on board vessels, and pollution prevention by ships, the maritime authority of Jamaica announced.